


A Desperate, Defenseless Creature

by Amazionion



Category: Doom (Video Games), The Borrowers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Doomguy is selectively mute, Doomguy kidnaps a borrower and takes care of him, Doomguy signs, G/T, GT, Giant/Tiny, M/M, giant tiny - Freeform, just a little, that's the fic folks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 35,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25695817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amazionion/pseuds/Amazionion
Summary: Warren was desperate. Sure, the little three-and-three-quarters inch tall man had some close calls in the past; exterminators, rats, that one teen who'd been too curious for his own good, but nothing that even remotely began to prepare him for this.Honestly, Warren was doubting that anything could have prepared him for the end of the world.Enormous creatures that the humans had called demons roamed outside, killing each other as well as anything they could see. Buildings had been completely destroyed in the invasion. Not a single human had been seen in months. Food was scarce to nonexistent.Everything changed when he was caught by a human called the Slayer.
Relationships: Doom Slayer | Doomguy & Original Character, Doom Slayer | Doomguy & VEGA, Doom Slayer | Doomguy/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 151
Kudos: 247





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> If you follow my [main on Tumblr](https://horseyneigh2002.tumblr.com/) you'll know I was prompted to finally post this by an anon. Blame them for me publishing this. Enjoy.

Warren couldn't move, he was so terrified. Or maybe it was pain that had him locked up in the human's shadow. 

All of it started when Warren had found food. Well, technically it started when demons started pouring through portals, but what did that matter? Warren had just been wandering through the charred, barren building he'd discovered when he saw a vending machine that hadn't been ransacked yet. 

It had been too good to be true, considering today marked the third day since he'd been able to eat anything. His water had run out too, but he was dizzy from the lack of calories, so Warren was just trying to tackle one thing at a time. There was a big hole in the glass in front of the snacks, so Warren was able to scramble up through there. 

There was more food here than Warren to eat or carry with him, so he had to pick something, quickly, and then get back to cover. Getting caught before meant moving at best, death by the hands of a human at worst. Now, the best case was a quick death. Worst case was unimaginable. 

He'd managed to just get up to the lowest row of snacks when he heard someone approaching. A gunshot had sounded and Warren dropped the protein bar he’d just grabbed to see what was going on. 

An enormous muscle bound human, clad in green armor, carrying far too many weapons, was murdering the demons outside. They didn't care when they got demon blood on their boots as they stepped over the mangled corpses to enter the same building Warren was in. 

Adrenaline began to pump through Warren’s tiny body and he kicked the protein bar down from its coils and jumped down. He could  _ not  _ get caught.

Humans had been extraordinarily dangerous before earth had been invaded by demons, and this human was a giant gun toting maniac! It was no stretch of the imagination to see this human grinding Warren into a stain under one of those huge boots. 

Warren stopped struggling with the push flap of the vending machine when the human's shadow fell over the machine. He glanced up to see the human staring into the machine. He couldn't see the face from behind the visor in the helmet at this angle, but he knew the human was eyeing up the snacks inside. 

He softly swallowed, and abandoned the protein bar, hunkering down in the corner of the vending machine, praying he wasn't spotted. 

He'd moved just in time. The human reared back and shattered the glass with his gloved fist. The spot Warren was standing filled with broken glass and he softly whimpered as the human started grabbing everything. 

Humans. Greedy as always. 

Once everything was taken, including the protein bar Warren had rightfully earned, the human left the vending machine alone. The adrenaline rush was over from the promise of food, leaving him aware of the ache in his ankles and the hole in his stomach. Warren clutched his empty stomach and tried not to cry. No tears flowed, he was much too dehydrated for that, but the muffled whimpering attempted to leave his throat. 

That was his only chance at food in days, gone. Snatched up by some human who probably wouldn't even appreciate it. A human that big probably ate too much to actually care what he was eating.

_ I just need to be thankful he didn’t spot  _ me. _ That would have been the end of this. _

It took a few minutes for Warren to calm down, but once he did, he started to climb down. Time to go back to searching, hoping he could find something before he was either found by a demon or collapsed without the energy to stand. 

Thundering footsteps were heard upstairs, and gunfire. The human must have moved upstairs. 

Warren needed to get the heck out of there. He started for the opening in the wall where he could probably take shelter until he found….. Something. Anything.

He never made it to the wall.

A loud crash shook Warren down to his bones and he stared up at the ceiling. The floor above had a bunch of cracks and dust started to pour down. There was another crash and an explosion and then the floor above gave way.

The human, standing on top of a demon, crashed to the floor. The human had a shotgun buried into it, and with a gunshot it became nothing more than a pile of gore. 

Warren’s knees had given out sometime between the breaking of the ceiling and the deafening silence that followed the brutal kill. With ringing ears, Warren made no move to get up from the ash and dust. 

The human didn’t stop moving once the dust settled and removed their shotgun from the dead demon. 

Warren was too scared of the dark blood creeping towards him, and the looming human to notice the cut that appeared on his leg when he’d fallen into the debris. 

An involuntary gasp left Warren when he realized he was exposed. He was on the floor maybe a few feet from the edge of the blood puddle. The human was standing and scanning their surroundings. He had to move or be discovered. 

Warren didn’t even have time in order to get his feet under him. The human’s helmet snapped to the spot where Warren was in the dirt. They had seen him somehow. He was caught.

He gave up trying to run when his legs wouldn’t respond and fell to a defensive position, arms thrown up to protect his face and head. Not that it would do anything to stop those massive armored boots from crushing his tiny body into oblivion. 

The shadow of the human fell over him, and Warren whimpered. He couldn’t move. His legs wouldn’t uncurl from where they were tucked against his chest, and his arms wouldn’t release from their position to protect his head. This was it. They were dead. 

The crushing blow never came. 

It took a full thirty seconds crouched down in their shadow for it to dawn on Warren he was still alive. He managed to look up.

The human was crouched too, looming still over him. Their visor was eerily clear. Warren could see the human was male, and he had a deep scar across one cheek, a smaller one over the bridge of his nose, and one split part of his eyebrow. Hard green eyes stared down at Warren, and the tiny man felt like this would be the last thing he ever saw. 

A massive gloved hand descended and tightly wrapped around Warren’s body. The small man squeaked in fear as he was lifted up off the ground and brought in front of those cold, calculating eyes. 

The whimper returned and Warren nearly choked on it. “P-please don’t hurt me.” 

After an eternity of being held by the human, Warren found himself dumped into some kind of pocket. He couldn’t scramble up to a sitting position before it shut on him. He glanced around and his heart rose into his throat. 

He was  _ stuck _ . In the pocket of a deranged human. With an unknown fate awaiting him.

“Let me out of here!” Warren pushed at the fabric around him. “Please! Let me go!”


	2. Firm Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Injuries, fear, language, unintentional(?) power play, medical treatment, blood mention, doomguy is selectively mute and signs

Doomguy had ended up pocketing the little guy. He didn’t want to accidentally drop or crush the little thing if he needed to fight. It felt so strange to know that an entire life was currently tucked away in his pocket. What was it? Where did it come from? Was it supposed to be that small or had something happened to make it that small?

The little guy kept squirming all the way back to the Fortress. He was so worried that he'd somehow drop the tiny guy, or the little thing would climb out and fall. It took a little too long for him to get back to the portal site. 

One quick portal later, he was back in the Fortress. He began to unload his haul onto a nearby table, but kept the little guy in a pocket. The little thing was hurt, and he didn’t want to risk it aggravating its injuries trying to run from him.

"Did you find the missing part for my scanners?" VEGA asked in the same monotone voice as always. 

He set the part down with a grunt. Now that his hands were free he could sign at the closest monitor. 'Where is the med kit?' He’d have to figure out the extent of the little creature’s injuries other than the cut and malnutrition. He'd seen too many people be saved and then die of infection or succumb to injuries. 

“The medical kit is in your workshop,” VEGA told him and he started towards the workshop to retrieve it. “Are you injured?” 

He just shook his head as he entered the workshop. He then pulled his helmet off and set it aside. He didn’t need the HUD trying to distract him while he patched up the tiniest person he’d ever seen, smaller than his pinky. 

"There is another life signal on your person." 

'I know, VEGA.' He moved the med kit to an empty table. 'Quiet.' 

With how skittish the little guy was, VEGA’s disembodied voice would just scare the little thing even more. 

Once the medical kit was carefully placed out, he reached into the pocket for the little guy. It was still squirming and struggling against his grip. 

"Put me down! Ple-ease!" The little thing was in a state of panic, struggling, hyperventilating. He was terrible with bedside manner, but if the little guy didn't calm down, they'd hurt themselves more. 

He gently set the little guy down onto the table and gently pressed his palm over them. They stopped struggling after a second. He knew he shouldn't try to restrain someone already frightened, but he didn't have many choices. He lifted his hand and began to examine them. They were still breathing, thank goodness, with how quickly they stopped struggling he was afraid he'd crushed the tiny thing. 

There was the large gash on their leg that would need to be addressed, as well as some dirty looking bandages on the arm. Those would need to be changed, and he should probably check their torso for any more damage. 

First things first, he very carefully began to tug on his pants leg to try and remove the cloth. The little guy squirmed, but let him undress them. 

It was incredibly awkward for him as he tried to bandage their wounds. Everything just felt far too small in his hands, and he felt extremely clumsy. 

Eventually, after a few tries, he managed to bandage their wounds. 

They stared up at him with terrified eyes, still stripped down to their underwear, still terrified to move. 

Awkwardly, he tapped his fingers against his legs and then began to sign. 'I am going to take a decontamination shower, you stay here. I will return with food.' 

There was no sign that they understood. 

'VEGA, translate.' 

"The Slayer says that he needs to decontaminate himself, but he will return with food for you." The tiny creature flinched at VEGA's voice and scrambled a few inches back when he stood. "Do not be afraid. You are in good hands." 

\---

Warren fought back a scream as the human pinned him down to the table. That heavy palm settled over his body and he couldn't help but brace for the inevitable crushing. He knew that any second now the human would put more and more pressure on his tiny body until he was just a stain. 

It never came. 

Actually, once Warren went still, the human lifted his hand to stare back at him. He was more intimidating without the helmet on. There were more scars littered across his face, and there was no visor to shield Warren from his intense glare. Shudders raced down his spine and Warren had to remind himself to stay still or get crushed. 

What did this human want with him? Why would he take him? What were his plans for him? Warren wasn’t dead yet, so perhaps the human didn’t want to kill him? 

If he wasn’t wanted dead, then perhaps he would be some kind of pet for the human? Or perhaps a test subject? The human didn’t seem to be a scientist, so hopefully he wouldn’t be experimented on. 

Enormous fingers tugged at his pants leg, thankfully not the same leg where there was the cut. Warren glanced up at the human, and then started to comply in being undressed. Right now he needed to comply and then look for means of escape.

Warren glanced around the table, his heart in his throat. There was an open medical kit on the table nearby, but the items that had been pulled out didn’t seem to be the kind of instruments a human would use to dissect a small creature. They were the kind of medical supplies used to treat injuries. Hopefully the human was just undressing him to access the wound. 

It didn’t stop the humiliated blush race up his cheeks when his shirts were taken too. He could see just how thin he looked, and he looked at anything besides himself. 

There was a soft grunt from the human and Warren glanced up seconds before fire raced up his leg. There was some clear liquid splashed onto the wound and Warren yelled in pain. It  _ burned. _

Warren covered his face with his arms to hold back other screams while the human continued to prod his injured leg. Once the burning faded, there was some foul smelling goop that was spread over the wound and then a thick wrapping was put around his leg. It looked extremely clumsy, but Warren wasn’t about to say or do anything to piss the human off. The human had made sure to show him who was in charge by smushing him under his palm.

The process was repeated for the burn on Warren’s arm, without the burning, stinging liquid. Some weird, terrible smelling goop was applied and then wrapped up by a far too large dressing. 

The human nudged Warren onto his belly to look his back over. It seemed the already healed wound on his left shoulder didn’t need the human’s attention and Warren was nudged back onto his back. 

It seemed the human was finally done with him. 

After a minute where the two stared at each other, the human started to move his hands in a strange way. 

_ Sign language.  _ Warren recognized after a few moments.  _ The human can’t talk. Shit. I don’t know sign language.  _

"The Slayer says that he needs to decontaminate himself, but he will return with food for you." Warren could barely contain a yelp when suddenly something spoke. Their voice was all encompassing, coming from everywhere at once. The human began to stand up and Warren scrambled back, too frightened to not move. He stopped himself before going too far. "Do not be afraid. You are in good hands." 

The human left the room and Warren looked around for the source of the voice. “H-hello?” 

“Hello. I am VEGA. Who and what are you?” The voice sounded and Warren had no luck in finding out where it’s coming from. 

“What the fuck?” Warren scrambled over to where the human left his clothes and wiggled into them as quick as he could. “What the fuck, what the  _ fuck _ ?”

The walls could talk, this human was known as a Slayer, so, he was going to die if he stayed here, he’d been bandaged up, but it had hurt like crazy, he had got to get out of here. Thankfully his bag wasn’t too far away, and it hadn’t been stolen. 

Warren grabbed his climbing hook and started to scale down the table as fast as he could. He was going to get out of here before the Slayer could have a chance at getting his hands on him again.


	3. What Became of Them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS:** Mentions of keeping a person as a pet, mentions of death, Doomguy with an original name, angst, hurt/comfort

Warren could only hide in the room the human dropped him in. The doors wouldn't open for him, and the walls were solid stone. 

He could only hide and hope that voice didn't give him away. 

"Please do not run." The voice chimed after Warren dove underneath one of the tables. "The Slayer will not harm you." 

_ Yeah right! The  _ Slayer _ totally wouldn't crush me like a bug under his heel! _

Warren crept towards a box under the table and tried to calm his pounding heart. He just needed to wait out for this human to return. Then, when the door opened, he would rush out. Find some actual wall, with space inside, and make a new base there. 

He should find food, grab as much as he could carry, and then run away as fast as he could. There had to be some way out of here.

There just had to be. 

Warren glanced around under the table he'd taken shelter under. There were scraps of metal and armor around, but he also was able to pick some crumbs out from the carpet. Somehow, Warren limited himself to just a handful and forced himself to store the rest. His stomach was even more loud since he'd gotten a taste of sustenance. 

He was looking to see what would be the best way to climb the steps when Warren caught sight of the cage. 

The  _ empty _ cage. 

His heart hammered into his throat. There was an  _ animal _ in here?! Where was it?! What was it!?

Unless there was no animal and he was going to be living there. The human might have only rescued him to fill that cage. Warren felt ill. 

It would make sense for his wounds to have been bandaged and a promise of safety if the human planned to keep him as a pet. The cage looked too clean to have an animal living in it. He shuddered softly and began to scramble up the steps. He couldn't allow himself to be a pet. He didn't want to be completely dependent on this human. He wanted to live. 

Warren made it up the steps and looked for his options regarding where to hide until the human came back. He decided eventually on the bookshelf that was just to the left of the door. There was plenty of room for him to hide and then when the door opened he could just run right out. 

He tossed his bag between two paperback novels and wedged himself into the gap. Warren kept crouched, one hand on his bag. He had to be ready to spring the second the door began to open or else he'd be missing his chance. 

“They’re going to try and run out of the door, you should be careful as to not step on them.” Said the disembodied voice as the door started to open. 

Warren was so startled he didn’t start running at all. The human knew. The voice knew. He was going to be trapped here. 

Heart pounding, Warren threw his bag over his shoulders and went deeper into the bookshelf, slipping behind the books for a little wiggle room. The voice knew where he was, and he was going to be found and caught and forced into the cage. He needed to  _ hide _ .

“They’re hidden on the bookshelf’s bottom shelf.”

_ Shut up, voice! _

Warren stuffed himself into the corner of the shelf farthest from the human while he heard footsteps approaching. He tried to calm his pounding heart and muffled his frightened gasps by putting his hands over his mouth. Every fiber of his being begged he wouldn't be seen. 

The book right in front of him was pulled out as well as the two beside it, exposing Warren. The human found him.

A hand blocked his vision and his last second attempts to dodge being grabbed again failed. The enormous hand squeezed him tightly and brought him up into the light. 

The human was scowling at him, and Warren had to try to not go to pieces. He was caught, again. This time the grip was much tighter, and Warren could barely breathe. There was just no give against that thick, callused skin. Warren's attempts to struggle just ended up winding him. 

"You're applying too much pressure to their body. I would like to suggest loosening your grip." The disembodied voice said calmly, like Warren wasn't being crushed. 

Surprisingly, the human loosened his grip enough so that Warren could breathe. Warren gasped for breath and let his head droop a little. He was terrified to look up at the human. He didn't want to see that scowl, those cold, hard eyes. 

Warren felt the human walking and tried to not whimper some more. All that helplessness that had been bubbling deep inside him for months was rising up and trying to force itself out into the open. Nothing quite drove the point home about being less than four inches tall and helpless to do anything like being squeezed half to death in a human's first. 

Suddenly, the human let go of him completely. Instead of falling six feet to the ground, it was maybe an inch to the table. Warren stumbled and fell to a seat. "Ow." He said automatically, even though it didn't really hurt. 

He had no choice but to look up at the human again. He didn't want to, but he had to so he could gauge if he was about to be punished for his actions. 

The human didn't look angry, well, angrier than normal. Still scowling, still staring at him with emotionless…. Well. Actually. The eyes weren't so cold and hard looking. The human looked more neutral.

After a moment, the human started signing. Warren pulled his knees up to his injured chest and waited for the voice to say something. 

"The Slayer says he didn't know what you eat normally, so he brought a little bit of everything." 

The confusion must have shown on Warren's face, because the human pointed at something behind Warren. 

Hesitantly, Warren turned to look. His eyes widened at the plethora of food that was sitting there. Anything from junk food to, like, actual fresh fruit was sitting there. 

"Is this… for me to eat?" Warren softly asked. He knew they just told him that it was for him, but he was having a little trouble believing it.

A firm nod from the human. 

Warren looked over his choices and walked up to a bag of chips. They were a little expired, but they were still sealed. He dug through his bag and pulled out his knife fashioned out of a piece of a busted exacto-blade. A little slash in the plastic and he was able to crawl in and grab a chip. He broke off a small piece to eat now and stored the rest in his bag. 

Warren froze, hands on the flap of his bag. Would the human be angry if he took food for later? 

He glanced over his shoulder. The human didn't look any angrier. Warren hesitantly set the chip back down, just in case. 

\---

Doomguy tilted his head softly as the tiny guy set the chip back down. Why wasn't he eating? Did he not like the chip flavor? Maybe it was too stale. 

The little guy looked around a little more before going over to the fruit. 

Maybe he should let VEGA observe, and he could go figure out how he was going to give the little guy a bath. 

No. If he left, the tiny thing might try and run again. Then he'd have to catch him again, and then he might squish him again. 

The little guy was obviously terrified, and he didn’t want to be keeping someone here against their will, but he knew that the little guy had no chance right now of surviving on earth with the invasion going on. 

_ Little guy. _

The Slayer signed at the nearest monitor. ‘Ask him his name.’

“The Slayer wishes to know your name,” VEGA asked.

The little guy turned around, clutching a bit of apple in his hands. “Uhm. Warren. My name is Warren. What’s… what are your names?”

“I am known as VEGA.” VEGA chimed. He seemed happy someone asked for his name for once. Usually, the AI had to introduce himself. 

Doomguy just kind of stood there, unsure of what to do. What was he supposed to say to the little guy - to Warren? 

Plenty of people just called him Doom, or some variation like Doomguy or Doom marine. The UAC had his files labeled under ‘The Doom Slayer.’ The demons called him the Hell Walker. The Unchained Predator. The Night Sentinels of Argent D’nur called him Great Slayer or Time Walker. VEGA just called him Slayer. He briefly thought back to the dog tags he kept the remains of in his room, but shook his head. The name on it was unreadable, and besides, that man had died a long time ago.

‘John.’ He spelled out for VEGA to translate. ‘John Doe.’

Warren raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem alarmed. “It was, er, nice to meet you, John. Thanks for the food and first aid and all… but I need to probably get going.”

He shook his head. It was too dangerous to return Warren to earth. 

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” He looked much more worried at the implication. 

‘It’s too dangerous to return you to Earth. You would not survive. You should stay here so I can help take care of you.’

VEGA seemed unable to keep one hundred percent accurate to the translation. “The Slayer feels like you should stay here, for your own protection. You would simply not survive the demonic infestation of Earth should we return you now. It would be best for your safety if you stayed here, under the Slayer’s care." 

“Return me?” Confusion and fear was written all across that tiny frame. “Where, where are we?”

Doomguy reached out and picked Warren up again, holding him on his palm instead of in a fist. It was best to show him what was going on rather than to try and let VEGA explain. He carried the little guy up the stairs to the bridge. There was the best view of Earth from up there. 

It was strange, holding Warren in his palm. He was too heavy handed to be holding him in a fist. VEGA didn’t have to tell him that. The terror that was on full display here, with Warren cupped gently in his palm, was enough to tell him that he had been far too heavy handed. 

The door to the bridge opened and he walked up to the consoles. Through the enormous window was the charred remains of Earth. The world looked so dark and desolate without the lights from the cities. Enormous glowing red sigils were visible from this high up, showing the initial invasion points. 

He set Warren onto the tops of one of the consoles so he could sign. ‘This is Earth now.’

VEGA translated on his own. “This is what remains of your planet. The demonic invasion has destroyed most of civilization. Can you see why it would be unwise to take you back?”

Warren didn’t answer. He just stood, frozen in place. 

“Warren?”

\---

_ No no no no no no nononono! This can’t be real. I don’t- what happened- I knew it was bad but this. I can’t. I don’t believe it. _

Something nudged his shoulder, but he couldn’t care to look behind him. The Earth, his home, it was gone. There was just nothing there. Humanity has truly fallen. 

"Warren?" VEGA asked again. 

"Yeah?" His voice was quiet and choked. 

"The Slayer says that it is his mission to fix this. He will not let this planet fall." 

"Okay." Warren turned to look up at John, eyes choked with tears and chest tight. "I hope you succeed in your mission." 

The human looked bewildered at how distressed Warren looked. His hands fidgeted a little and he glanced towards a monitor. 

"Might I suggest comforting him like you might have with Daisy?" 

Before Warren could ask about Daisy, John reached out and carefully scooped him up. He was too tired to struggle. Gently, John began to pet his back. 

Warren was grieving too much to care that he'd replaced some pet now. He curled in on himself to cry until he felt better. The human could pet him, for now.


	4. Clearing Misconceptions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings/Content:** Mentions of animals death, non explicit non sexual nudity, self deprecating spiral, talk of keeping a person as a pet. (And all the pet talk is put to rest)

Daisy was always a sore spot for the Slayer, this VEGA knew. His pet rabbit had died a long time ago at the hands of the demons, during the first invasion of Earth, in another universe. Daisy was the reason he fought, the reason he wanted to annihilate the entire demon population. Usually it was unwise for VEGA to bring her up. It would usually send the Slayer into an angry or depressive spiral for a little bit depending on how the rest of the day was going. 

This time it seemed to not be bothering the Slayer as he held and softly petted Warren. He was too occupied by trying to comfort Warren that he couldn't dwell on Daisy. By the same token, it seemed Warren was too distressed about the Earth being destroyed to be afraid of the Slayer, even though he was being surrounded by the very hands that scared him earlier. 

Strong emotions would drown out other thoughts, other fears, no matter the size of the person. 

It took a little while, but Warren managed to calm himself down after several long minutes of crying. He sat himself up, and the Slayer pulled his other hand away. “I- I’ll stay here.” He looked up at the Slayer, still distressed but not nearly as much as before. “Thank you, for rescuing me. I owe you.” 

He brushed it off with a hand motion, then signed up at VEGA one handedly. ‘Taking him to the bathroom.’

Through the different cameras, VEGA watched the Slayer bring Warren into the bathroom and he set down a little liquid soap and a washcloth. Warren was deposited on the counter and he filled the sink up about halfway with warm water so Warren could stand, even in the deepest part. 

After a moment he reached for Warren again, who quickly scrambled back, breaking himself out of his dazed stupor. "I can bathe myself!" 

The Slayer paused, and then pulled his hand back. 'Clean up. Yell if you need me.' He signed and left. 

VEGA took it upon himself to translate, since he knew Warren was unable to understand. "He said you should clean yourself up, and to yell if you needed him." 

"O-okay." Warren began to undress. He set his clothes to the side and then removed the bandages that the Slayer put there. 

It was interesting to get a good look at the small man. His long light brown hair had been drawn back to the nape of his neck, and it seemed that nothing but the piece of string held it back. There were clear signs of malnutrition and dehydration all across his tiny, frail body. Vega could detect his miniscule ribs under his pale skin. A few bruises were forming on his chest. With his camera zoomed in as far as it would go, VEGA could see the redness around his brown eyes, and the exhaustion in his face. 

The computer AI moved his focus from the bathroom, though he kept that camera on in case something happened, to where the Slayer stood in the hallway, pacing. 

"Might I ask what your plans are for Warren?" 

He shook his head. 

"How long do you plan to keep him?" 

He didn't even pretend to hear that one. Perhaps VEGA was asking too complicated questions, and should be asking more specific ones. He needed to ask ones the Slayer should have already been thinking about. 

"Are you going to put him in Daisy's cage?" 

He froze in his tracks and then began to rapidly sign. 'No. Never. Warren is not a pet. I am not going to cage him just because he's small. He is not going in that cage.' 

That cleared up a few questions at least. The Slayer firmly believed in Warren's personhood, and was not going to be viewing their relationship to be pet and master. "Where shall he sleep?" 

'Barracks.' He signed after a minute and then continued pacing. 

VEGA watched for a few more minutes, asking a few small questions about how the Slayer planned to care for Warren. He didn't have many answers. It was now perfectly obvious to VEGA that he'd not thought this through. They had no means of accommodating another person within the fortress.

\---

Warren honestly couldn't care right now about anything. The hot water felt phenomenal against his tired, aching body. The full belly and the more sneakily filled bag made the blow about home feel less in the minute of quiet. 

He placed a hand on his stomach, which felt full for once in too long for him to remember. While he scrubbed himself clean he was checking his wounds over. His leg had stopped bleeding, thankfully. His arm felt pretty good so long as he kept it out of the water. 

After he'd cleaned himself he tentatively sniffed his clothes and gagged at the smell. He had only one other pair, just as raggedy, just as smelly. He rearranged the bandages so the wrap job wasn’t as clumsy and put on the other pair of pants so he could be dressed while he washed his clothes. 

Washing his clothes gave him a minute to be alone with his thoughts, just to think. The human didn’t seem to actually want to hurt him, but he knew that if he tried to escape again or protest too much then John had no qualms about squashing him a little to make him behave. He would survive living here until John decided to return him, but at what cost?

That cage was still sitting in the back of his mind, looming. The threat of becoming a pet for a massive human. 

_ Was it really even a threat? He's treating you like a pet. You're no better than an intelligent mouse. You've been fed and bathed like one. _

Warren hugged himself, and grimaced at the wet shirt he just inadvertently smacked himself with. A shiver ran down his spine at a sudden thought while he dried himself off again with the corner of the washcloth.

Would John make him wear a collar?

He doubted it. Where would he get one that would fit his neck?

While he had a little privacy, Warren wrung out his clothes and left them to dry off to the side. He needed to take stock of what he had. He had plenty of food, but his canteens were bone dry. 

_ Stupid. I should have filled them before bathing. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  _

He had two pairs of underwear, one and a half pairs of pants, a grey long sleeve shirt, a navy blue short sleeve shirt, three pairs of socks, a belt that had seen better days, and a ruined tan jacket in terms of clothes. The jacket was beyond saving and had already been torn mostly apart for bandages, which had also been washed. There was his climbing hook and thread, the knife, a little tinfoil he could use to eat with, and a shiny pebble. That was it. 

Warren carefully shook his bag and cursed. The small journal he'd been keeping had ended up forgotten in the building he'd been caught in, along with the tiny nub of pencil graphite. He'd completely just left it where he'd been sitting when he saw the vending machine.

Slowly, Warren repacked his bag. The clothes still needed to dry, but he better not start to test the human's patience. "Vega?" 

There was a beat's pause before "Yes?" 

"Uh. Could you tell John I'm finished bathing?"

"Of course."

Warren hardly had time to think of how he was supposed to tell him about the clothes before he came stomping into the bathroom. It took everything he had to not wither under those piercing green eyes. "I'm finished."

John pointed at the clothes. 

"Oh. They were really, really smelly. I started washing before I realized I couldn't dry them quickly. I-I'm sorry." 

Signing and then VEGA translated. "He says do not worry about it…. Would you like to see where you'll be sleeping tonight?" 

Warren nodded his head. "Okay." He'd try and plead his way out of it if he ended up being carried to the cage. 

A tiny yelp left him when he was scooped up into the air. Thankfully, there was no fist this time either. He was awkwardly sprawled in his palm, but managed to get up to a sitting position. It still made his heart race, to be sitting between the strong fingers that could snap shut on his small body, and to be snatched up without any warning, but at least he wasn't stuck in a fist.

He was carried down the corridor and into something resembling a bedroom. There were two sets of bunk beds up against opposite walls and a couple trunks. The door stayed open behind them to let fresh air cycle through while the climate control kicked on for this room. 

John slid Warren down onto the steel grey sheets and began to sign. Warren dutifully waited for the translation. 

"The sheets should be clean, as the room had been sealed completely before now. The room is yours, please make yourself comfortable. The Slayer will come get you once it's time for dinner, and your clothes should be dry by then." 

"Okay." Warren brought his knees to his chest. "Thank you, John." 

"You're welcome, Warren."

\---

VEGA kept a camera on in the room Warren was while the Slayer continued repairing the celestial scanner. There were still a few missing pieces, but this would allow for him to find the most strong points of the demonic invasion. Once that happened they should be able to find at least one of the hell priests and slow the invasion while they made a more cohesive plan and located more pieces. 

'VEGA.' The Slayer signed after removing a floor panel to access some wiring. 'See if you can find information on Warren while I work.' 

"I doubt I will find any kind of a criminal record on him, or any kind of identification."

The Slayer made a rude gesture. 'On people like Warren.' 

"Scanning archives." 

While his background programs scanned the data banks, VEGA decided to check on their guest. The tiny man was huddled under the blankets, not even showing his face.

Thinner skin and smaller body mass would mean he would get colder easily. Perhaps the greenhouse would be a more suitable place to sleep. 

VEGA turned up the temperature in the room and turned his attention back to the Slayer, who just punched the floor. 

"Did you connect the black wire to the green port or the blue one?"

'Black one.' 

"You need to connect it to the green port." 

It was a few minutes before VEGA had found relevant information on people like Warren. He waited until the Slayer got his hands free to start speaking.

"Humans seem to believe their existence is fictional. The first record I found of a species that describes Warren is a children's book series by Mary Norton. She refers to the 'tiny people who live in the walls' as Borrowers." 

'Continue.' 

"Beyond a few film adaptations of the first book, the majority of information comes from early twenty first century internet groups, but even they all seem to be speaking hypothetically." 

'That's it?' 

"The information from the internet groups comprise mainly of drawings and stories." 

The Slayer grunted and got to his feet. 'How's Warren holding up?'

"He's huddled under the blankets."

'I'll be in the workshop.' 

\---

Was being a pet supposed to be this boring? Hours had passed and Warren was just sitting under the blankets, trying to stay warm. The room had heated up a little, but with no shirts and pants that only came down to mid shin, it was hard. He'd left his shoes back on the bathroom counter, so his feet were cold unless he kept them tucked under him. 

He almost wished the human was here. At least then he wouldn't have to be sitting alone with his thoughts. 

"Vega?" He asked after an eternity of sitting on the bed, poking his head out of his blanket huddle.

"Yes, Warren?" He responded without hesitation. 

"Is, uh, is John going to be back soon? I have a couple of questions."

"I can answer a majority of your questions. He does not like to be bothered when he's working." 

"Oh." Warren began to chew his lip. Vega seemed nice enough, but he really wanted to ask John, since he was the one ultimately deciding his fate. After thinking about it, he decided just to get it out there. "Is there anything I'm supposed to be doing? It's…. it's really boring just sitting here." 

"I will tell the Slayer that you want more enrichment. In the meantime, you should focus on resting and getting better." 

"Don't bother him if he's busy!" Warren blurted out. "It's not important!" 

Vega had stopped talking. Why would he stop talking? Did he really go bothering John over a stupid question? His heart began to pound. 

What if interrupting his work made him mad? What if he decided Warren was too much trouble to keep around as a pet? What if he just decided to squash him?! 

Why was he so fucking stupid!? 

"What would you like for dinner?" Vega pulled him back to the present.

Warren glanced up at the ceiling, tears gathered in his eyes. "Huh?" 

"It's nearly time for dinner. You're clearly behind on calories, what would you like?" 

"Uh… whatever's good. I don't… I don't care. Don't go out of your way for me." 

After a moment of silence. "Would soup be okay?" 

"Sure."

And so began a very intense wait. Warren would have to talk to John about this whole pet thing, even though he really, really didn't want to. He needed to know what would be expected of him. Was he supposed to learn any kind of trick? What were the rules? If he disobeyed something, how would he be punished? 

He had to try and push down all the thoughts that were welling up in him when the door opened and John walked in, carrying a tray. Oh boy.

\---

Warren had been huddled under the covers when the Doom Slayer walked in. VEGA was right then, the little guy got cold easily. Well, the soup should warm him up and help start to get some meat on his little bones. Warren had been obviously starving since the invasion took place, with how thin he was. He would need to make sure the little guy got to eat his three meals a day.

He set the tray down on the bed and poked the lump that was in the folds of the blanket. Warren scrambled out quickly. “Good evening.” He had his arms wrapped around his bare chest. 

‘Soup’s on.’ He moved the tray over to Warren and pointed to the collection of small containers he’d placed on the edge of the tray. ‘What would be good for you to eat out of?’

VEGA translated, and realization dawned on Warren’s face. “Oh, uh.” He stepped up onto the tray and nudged one of the larger plastic bottle caps with his foot. “This one would be okay.”

He carefully spooned some of the soup, a hearty broth with vegetables, into the bottle cap for Warren. The other potential dishes were picked up and set aside. The bowl with the rest of the stew was set in his lap and he watched Warren pick up the bottle cap and settle on the tray. 

The meal was surprisingly quiet. Warren had taken a little tinfoil from his tiny little bag and fashioned a spoon for him to eat with. He seemed pretty timid, but that was expected for the little guy. He had just been through a lot. 

After a few minutes, Warren gently set the bottle cap aside and cleared his throat. "Uhm, Mr. Doe, sir? Will there be any duties you’d want me to do, as a pet?" 

He choked on the soup in his mouth. A  _ pet?!  _ Warren thought he would be a pet?! Who made him think that he was going to be a pet!? 

'No. Never. You are not a pet. I don't know what put that idea in your head, but you are a person.' 

VEGA translated his rapid, angry movement. 

Warren looked to be in shock and he shrunk a little more into himself. “If I’m not a pet, then, then why’d you take me?”

‘You were hurt. You were vulnerable. You would have died if I hadn’t found you.’

“Oh… okay.” He was hugging himself again. “Thank you.”

‘No problem.’


	5. A Sleepless Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VEGA tries to see what he could do to make Warren's stay more comfortable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Warnings on this one. I think.

Vega didn’t like how quietly the Slayer was in his workshop. He sat in the gaming chair at the large desk, fiddling with a shotgun shell between his fingers. Usually he was working, or listening to the music he’d salvaged from the surface, or just doing something. But, it seemed tonight he would just be quiet. 

“Slayer?”

He glanced up and set the shell aside. ‘What should I do with him?’

“Warren?”

‘He’s so small. I can’t take him with me, but I don’t want to leave him here alone.’

“He won’t be alone. I would be here to observe and care for him.”

A soft grunt left the huge man and he set his hands down for a few moments. 

“Warren was able to survive for months in the ruins of earth at his current stature and in worse physical condition. He will be alright to leave alone.”

A sigh left the large man and he began to fiddle with the shotgun shell again. He was quite deep in thought for a while.

Finally, he signed up at him after the silence had dragged on for too long. ‘Just make sure he eats.’

“I will.” Vega chimed, looking over the report from his worldwide scanner system that had just come online not long ago. “Would you like to hear some good news?”

A nod.

“I have located one of the Hell Priests. The bad news is that there was no attempt to mask their location. It might be a trap.”

‘Or they don’t know I’m back yet.’ He stood up and started to put on his armor. After he was dressed in the armor, he signed ‘Time to show them that this world isn’t theirs to conquer.’

“Readying portal. Good luck, Slayer.”

\---

Warren was not comfortable in his makeshift bed. He had made something almost like a nest around him and pulled the covers over himself. It wasn't that he was cold. John had been kind enough after the meal to bring him his dried clothes, so Warren was at least dressed, and the heavy blankets kept his meager body heat close so it wasn't that he was cold.

He moved himself out of the blanket nest and picked up his bag that sat nearby. The blankets were just too much. It felt like he was being smothered in his own bed. He put his boots on and began to climb down. 

Maybe a little walk might help him. 

"Where are you going?"

Warren nearly slipped and fell to the ground when Vega talked. He had to scramble a moment to get his footing back. "Uh… I was just going to take a walk?" Warren gulped softly as he steadied his breathing. "Is that okay?" 

"You don't need to ask to walk around. I only thought you would want to sleep after the events of today." 

"I - I do. It's just that…. I think that the blankets might be a little much." 

"Should I get you new ones? Thinner fabric perhaps?" 

"No. No. Don't bother." Warren hopped to the floor. "I'll just walk a little and then I should be tired enough to sleep, no matter the blankets." 

Vega was quiet. 

Warren moved around the room, taking stock of what was in here. He peered under the bottom beds and found another trunk, bringing the total up to four. Part of him wanted to open them, but he knew he shouldn't. He was a noted guest here, he shouldn't snoop through other people's things. 

But then again, this room didn't seem to be John's room. 

But by the same token Warren needed someone big enough to move the trunk out from under the bed to actually open it for him. 

"Hey Vega." Warren glanced straight up. "Where are you?" 

"I am here." 

_ Well that's specific.  _

"I meant, like, where are you?" Warren looked around. "Are you back towards the bridge or in a room somewhere? Where do you monitor the cameras from? I'd like to see you." 

Vega was silent for a long minute before he spoke. "You cannot see me. I have no body. I am just a computer program." 

Warren opened his mouth, then closed it.  _ He's like that voice thing in that one human's home… but alive? _

"Do you control the fortress?"

"Yes, in a sense." 

"Oh. Could you open the doors for me?" Warren glanced hopefully at the huge door to the hallway. 

"Yes, if you would like to leave."

"No. Not right now. I was just curious." Warren continued to stroll around in the room, hands softly clutching his bag. There really was not much here, just the two bunk beds and the trunks. Though that didn't mean there weren't resources to be had. 

The blankets were quite thick, and a little scratchy, but they could be used for cloth should he ever work up the courage to cut some fabric from it. Maybe he could just pull string first from one of the corners, slowly unraveling an edge instead of cutting a hole. 

It'd be nice to have a jacket again. 

"Are you looking for something?" 

Warren nearly jumped out of his skin when Vega talked again. "No." He lied. "I was just… taking in my surroundings. It's just a thing I do… survival stuff." 

"I see." Vega was quiet for a minute. "I'd like to apologize in advance if this seems intrusive, but would you mind answering some of my questions so I can help create the best experience for you while you stay here?" 

"Okay." Warren shuffled his feet. 

"You stored food in your bag earlier, which is indicative of either a distrust that you would have access to food later, or that you need to be constantly eating something to sate a fast metabolism and keep your body temperature regulated. Which was it?" 

Warren's face heated up. Of course Vega noticed him stealing food. If Vega noticed, he probably told John, but John didn't seem mad about it, so he probably didn't mind. "Uh. It was a force of habit, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not been easy getting food, even before the invasion. Whenever there's more food around then you can eat, you're supposed to carry as much of it back as you possibly can, because who knows when you'll find more." 

"I see. Previous to the hell invasion, you scavenged what you could from humans, correct?" 

"Yeah. Pretty much." Warren glanced at his bag. "Is John mad I took food?" 

"The Slayer isn't even aware you took it. But with how concerned he is about your weight, I do not believe he'd mind." 

The blush on Warren's face intensified. He was embarrassed about how thin he was. He could easily feel his ribs under his fingers, and he knew his face looked a little sunken in. He couldn't help it. He was starving up until today. 

"Does mentioning your malnourishment make you uncomfortable? I can avoid talking about it unless absolutely necessary if you'd like." 

Warren nodded a little. Vega seemed like a pretty nice guy, for a computer. 

"Moving along, I thought it best to ask about things you might do for enrichment, since you seemed quite bored earlier." 

Warren nodded softly. "Well, usually I do chores and stuff. Mend clothes, repair tools, stuff like that. I don't have much down time really." 

"Do you have any material for which you could mend your clothes?" 

Warren shook his head. "I'd need access to a sewing kit so I can make a needle and thread and fabric and stuff... I had to shred my old jacket to make bandages." 

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks… I'm going to try and sleep again." Warren began to jog back to the bed he'd made his nest in. He felt a little better. His shoulders didn't feel as heavy. 

Halfway up the sheets, Warren began to feel the exhaustion from his day set in. By the time he crawled into his nest, he could barely remember to kick his shoes off. 

The dreamless sleep that took Warren was amazing. He managed to actually rest without fear of waking up in the grip of a demon. 

\---

VEGA was making a list of steps necessary to make Warren more comfortable in the fortress. 

First on the list was making sure Warren was going to be getting his proper nutrients. Something high in protein and vitamins. It wasn't just a few months of starvation he needed to make up for, but a lifetime of scavenging for crumbs. 

The next thing was getting him some things to repair his clothes with. A few sewing supplies wouldn't be hard to make, and there was plenty of cloth to spare for Warren to use. 

The third thing on the list was to ensure that Warren would be safe and free in the fortress. The doors needed to be recalibrated to his life signature, and it wouldn't hurt to add a few more seconds to the doors' automatic closing feature. Perhaps some of the cleaning and upgrade drones could be repurposed to help him get around on his own. A custom HUD display for the slayer's helmet to ensure Warren wouldn't be stepped on wouldn't cause any harm either. 

The possibility of Warren being stepped on made VEGA very…. Uneasy. The Slayer would never forgive himself should he cause Warren harm, and maybe the small man had already grown on him. 

So, he would simply need to ensure that would never happen. 

It shouldn't be that hard. 

Next on the list was figuring out exactly what the Slayer intended on doing for the long term possibility of Warren staying with them, but there was a nagging suspicion in the back of his processor that The Slayer hadn't thought that far ahead.

So, VEGA would need to come up with a solution on his own.

Further inquiries about proper enrichment for Warren was necessary in figuring this plan out. Perhaps they could figure out some kind of activity Warren might enjoy doing. 

If the Slayer was willing, the pair might be able to grow their bond. VEGA knew that the large man was suffering from the effects of being alone for so long. The allegedly already abysmal social skills had all but deteriorated, and the hoarding of items he had scavenged might be a sign of loneliness. Warren might not be able to give the necessary positive physical affection required to keep a stable mind, but he might ease the man's pain with his presence. 

They would be benefit from the other's company. 

VEGA heard the Slayer call for a portal to the fortress and happily obliged. He had a few ideas he would like to hear input on. 


	6. Settling in and Adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** The Slayer and VEGA both bond a little with Warren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Spoilers for the DOOM franchise I guess. Food. A little nonconsensual handling but nothing harmful or sexual.

It was strange, having company. Usually Doomguy would pass out for a few hours, grab a bite to eat, and get on with repairs or whatever until he needed to eat or pass out again. VEGA pretty much would tell him the agenda and he'd go do that. After three months - maybe more- of not being able to do something about the invasion of Earth, it had felt good to kill one of the Hell Priests. Even if the Khan Maykr had shown her ugly face and tried to open up old wounds to slow him down.

Whatever. It wasn't going to stop him. She could rant and rave all she wanted. He would soon manage to drive all the demons back and save the Earth. Again. 

But after waking up from a power nap, it seemed VEGA had a slightly different idea as to what needed to happen before he could go get a recharged core for the celestial locator, among other materials required. (He'd spent a couple hours the night before just finishing off the other repairs for the celestial locator.)

"You need to fix something hot for Warren to eat." 

He paused, half dressed in the armor. 

_ Right _ . He thought after a minute.  _ I have company. _

'Is he up yet?' 

"He's still sleeping. Yesterday must have really exhausted him." 

'I did kidnap him.' Instead of the armor's chest piece, Doomguy slid on a green tank top and wandered into the kitchen. What should he do to feed the little guy?

Before the first time someone injected alien steroids into him, another dimension and another lifetime ago when he was just a marine instead of the scourge of Hell, he would usually throw on a pot of coffee to start the morning. Now it didn't do anything for him. Maybe he should make a pot for Warren? 

Would it be wise to give someone that tiny caffeine? His heart might not be able to handle it. He poked a speaker by the cabinet to get the A.I.'s attention. 'Can Warren have coffee?' 

"One moment….. It would seem so long as he eats something with it he should be alright. The lethal dose of caffeine, barring unseen heart conditions, would be more than he can comfortably fit in his stomach."

With that, Doomguy got a pot going. Might as well try and fix a regular breakfast for the little guy. As "regular" as possible with what was available. 

A little improvising later, he'd managed to fix up a little something for the little guy. Fried up some canned meat from the pantry and potatoes from the greenhouse. Technically it wasn't a potato, but some vegetable native to Argent D'nur, but it was a very starchy, mostly white root vegetable. Tasted close enough. 

'Is he awake yet?'

"Warren is still asleep. Would you like me to try and get him up?"

'Don't bother. I'll get him.' 

\---

Warren had been actually sleeping quite peacefully before the massive human who'd kidnapped him had quite rudely woken him up. 

The warm blankets had been stripped away in a moment, assaulting his eyes and body with cold air and light. Warren tried to blindly grab at the blankets to bring them back, but a massive pinch grip tugged it away again.

"No." Warren groaned loudly, trying to find cover under blankets again, away from this dreadful human bean interrupting a wonderful sleep cycle with his massiveness!

There was no cover to be found, so Warren just forced himself to a sitting position. "'M awake." He yawned loudly, not bothering to hide it.

John didn't speak, naturally, just swept the tiny half awake man into his palm and walked off with him. Warren felt his boots and bag tumble against his leg and softly moaned. It was too early to be snatched up and carried around. 

Without really caring, Warren flopped against the closest finger to try and wake up faster. He didn't wake up well. He was still tired, and wanted a couple more hours of uninterrupted sleepy time. 

His eyes flicked from one of the scars across the finger he currently lounged on over to John's torso. Yes, he'd seem the massive man wearing something other than his full armor before, but he'd been too scared out of his mind to actually look at it then. Now he was still not awake, ergo he wasn't sensible enough to be afraid. The dark green tank top looked pretty tight across him, straining to contain an honestly ridiculous amount of muscle in his chest. Those massive arms were completely bare, showing off their scars and how swollen they were with muscle. He was pretty sure those biceps actually outsized a normal human's head, but what did Warren know about scaling? Letting his eyes drop lower, he noticed the soft outward curve of his stomach. A nice, healthy looking belly. 

_ He's eating at least. That's hot.  _

Warren remembered getting glances at the muscle bound men on the television and distinctly thinking that it wasn't healthy for them to have such little body fat. He grew up among other borrowers. He knew what was unhealthy fat to muscle ratios. While there was probably way too much muscle on this ridiculously large bean, at least he had a healthy amount of fat. 

John very carefully slid him onto a kitchen counter and Warren groaned loudly, complaining. It was at least warm in his hands. The counter was cold, and hard. 

He was signing something, but Warren wasn't watching, he was pulling his boots on. Vega would translate in a second anyway. 

"He's made you some breakfast. You should eat." A tiny saucer was placed in front of him. Warren's stomach let out an involuntary growl at the smell of hot food. 

"Thanks." Warren smiled softly before looking the food over. Meat and potatoes. Yum. He started to pull out his knife and his aluminium foil utensils. 

The bottle cap from last night was placed down after a second, filled with coffee. Even if he had never personally touched the stuff, the smell of it was recognizable to the tiny man. Warren glanced up and gave him a smile. "Thanks, John." 

He waved off the thanks and dished up the rest of the pan full of food for himself. 

Warren decided to ignore the human while he was eating. He did not need his half asleep mind concocting some kind of nightmare from this later. 

The food was actually really good. The potatoes were bland by human standards, but Warren was loving it. Meat had always been a rarity before, much less hot meat, cut up into small enough sizes he could eat it. He was mostly full before he even remembered there was something for him to drink. 

The coffee tasted bitter, but it was still hot, and it felt good settling in his stomach. It wasn't long before Warren had eaten his fill and dared to glance over at John, who was staring right back at Warren. 

Not a gawking kind of stare like he was doing something weird or gross, but just a soft stare. The corner of his lip was just barely quirked up in the barest semblance of a smirk. If Warren wasn't sitting right there, he wouldn't have believed it.

Warren glanced at the food that remained on his little plate, and then at the empty bottle cap. "I'm sorry I couldn't finish." 

The same waving it off hand motion which Warren was beginning to understand as 'Don't worry about it' or something along those lines.

"So, uhm, what now?" Warren placed a hand on his stomach absently. "Is there anything I can do to help with… anything?" 

Vega actually chimed in before John could start to sign. "The Slayer has a long day of scavenging ahead of him. There is still one last piece required for the celestial locator to function at the highest capacity, and a few other items he should look for. You might be able to help me with some of the finer details of repairs, or perhaps a few other chores the Slayer would have to do otherwise." 

John sent a glare over to a softly glowing speaker mounted in the wall near the pantry. 

"I promise it won't be anything too strenuous or something he could get hurt doing." 

Honestly, doing some manual labor sounded really good right about now. It was probably the fact that he's gotten full meals, hot meals, in his stomach, but his body felt like he had energy to burn. He was finally awake and ready to  _ do _ things. 

"I'm up for whatever it is, don't worry." He beamed up at John, who just grunted softly before reaching over and petting Warren on the head. 

An undignified squeak did leave Warren while he was petted, but it was more out of surprise than anything. At first he'd thought perhaps he was about to be picked up, so he had braced, but it wasn't. John had carefully stroked the pad of his index finger across his head a couple of times without wrenching his neck any. The touch was extremely gentle, and given the state of the bruises on his chest, Warren was a little surprised. 

He watched John push the dishes into an industrial sized sink and then leave. His body was buzzing from being patted like that. Maybe he was a little more touch starved than he'd thought. 

"What's first on the agenda?" Warren picked up his bag and straightened his hair out, adjusting where it was tied back at the nape of his neck. 

"First I was going to have you attempt to ride a drone as a mobility assistant." 

"Huh?" Warren paused, hand firmly grasped around his climbing hook. 

"Hold on one moment." There was a moment of quiet, and then the door opened with a clank. A whirring was heard and what looked like a floating box with a camera embedded in it zoomed into the kitchen. "These are drones I use when I need to give The Slayer something while he is in the field. I was going over potential ways to increase your mobility and independence while you stayed in the fortress and remodeling one of these drones so you could ride it seemed like a plausible way of doing it." 

Warren eyed up the thing suspiciously. "I prefer my feet to stay on solid ground… but on the other hand it looks like a wild ride. Bring it down and we'll try." 

The drone settled onto the counter with a quiet thud. 

The small man approached before climbing up on top of it by wedging his fingers into the mark on the sides. "First order of business, better hand holds for the sides. If I need to suddenly grab the sides of this thing, I'm going to fall." 

"Noted." Vega said while Warren stood on the top. "I should also note for more hand holds on the top?" 

Warren observed the top of the drone and then pulled his climbing hook and line out of his bag. "Sure. I got an idea for a safety net." Warren swung the hook overhead and then sank the hook into the top of the drone, anchoring it between the cracks of the plating. "And now I just…" He looped the other end of the rope through his belt loops and tied the knot over the buckle. "Tada! If I slip, I have something to catch me." 

"Fascinating!" Vega sounded excited. "Is that made of paper clips?" 

"Actually the hook is a couple carpentry staples." He gently tapped the hook with the toe of his boot. "Back when I got it as a teen, our village smith had managed to hammer it into shape. I tried making a replacement once, but it just wasn't as good." 

"Fascinating. What else do your people use for climbing gear?" 

"Anything we can bang into shape. Safety pins, seamstress pins, thick paper clips, though I once heard of a guy who had a fishing hook!" He sat cross legged in the middle of the drone. "Something like a rein would be nice, something to hold onto." 

"I will make note of that. Are you ready?"

"Take me up!" Warren was grinning. 

The drone lifted three inches into the air. Warren wobbled a little, but he clung tight, adjusting to the strange feeling of flying. It actually didn't feel too different to being held by John. 

"Are you ready?" Vega asked.

"Yup! Let's go!" 

The drone zoomed out of the still open door, carrying Warren into the long hallways. He clung to the cracks between the plates so hard his knuckles turned white, but he was enjoying this  _ so much.  _ He could feel his hair moving being him in the breeze, and a laugh bubbling in his chest. It felt like a dream, like he was flying on a pigeon, but way smoother than a bird. 

"Whoo-hoo!" He threw one arm up, giving in to the urge. This was  _ fun! _

Vega turned a corner and Warren slid a little, but he managed to keep his seat on top of the drone. He was already thinking of ideas how to modify a drone for a better ride, but he’d share them in a minute, he really wanted to enjoy the ride for now.

\---

Hours had passed, and day had turned into night by the time that the Slayer had returned to the Fortress. He held the recharged core for the Celestial Locator in his hands, along with his bag full of various items to help with repairs. After a quick sweep of the floor to make sure Warren wouldn't end up underfoot, he began installing the recharged core. 

It only took a few minutes. Pull out the floor panel, shove the core in, make sure he didn't accidentally unplug anything, put the floor panel back in. He was done in two minutes, tops.

VEGA spoke quietly once the floor panel was pushed back into place. “Warren is asleep on the monitors. Once you clean your hands, could you take him back to his room?”

Doomguy glanced around and quickly spotted the small man on top of one of the monitors, completely out of it. He was curled around his little bag, holding his knees up to his chest. He looked so cute, like a little mouse. A small smile tugged at his lips as he dusted his gloved hands. The little guy must have been tired after everything that happened with Vega after he'd left. ‘Have fun?’

“Yes, actually. I am in the process of printing a special model of drone to help with his mobility around the Fortress. However, Warren seemed to be on a caffeine buzz for several hours after you left, if his rambling and constant movement seemed to indicate anything. Might I suggest limiting his coffee intake in the future?”

He removed his gloves and helmet and set them aside. ‘Did he eat today?’

“Yes. Several hours into our working together I showed him the greenhouse so he could get something to eat. He seemed to enjoy having the freedom to pick his own fruit and eat it. He even cleaned his mess up afterwards. He ate from his pre-collected stash for dinner shortly before he fell asleep.”

‘Cute.’ He gently picked Warren up in his palms and carried the little guy back to his designated room. The little guy was so small, curled up in the palm of his hand. He paused just inside the doorframe when Warren shifted slightly. 

Warren’s miniscule frame shifted a little closer to his thumb and he watched Warren wrap his arms around the digit. It was nothing like this morning, with Warren clinging to it like a seasick sailor the railing of a ship. This was softer, more tender. Warren hugged his thumb like an old teddy bear. He pressed his face into the pad of his thumb and sighed quietly. 

He had to remind himself to not clutch at his chest. His hands were occupied. He could not let himself accidentally smush Warren. Even if the tiny man was obviously trying to make him lower his guard. 

The only two times Warren wasn’t terrified of his hands, and both times he was completely out of it. It felt terrible knowing he’d scared the little man so much, but he’d get over it. Everyone was terrified of the Slayer. What was one more?

He gently set Warren in the middle of his little blanket nest and covered him up with a free corner. The little man had not wanted to let go of his hand, but a little shake and he was off. 

With a soft pat, Doomguy left. He had a small armory to clean the blood and bits of demon out of, and a shower to take, and dinner to eat for himself. 

'Tell me about your day.' He signed up at a monitor before diving into the cleaning task. 

"Well, after calibrating your first set of portals, Warren was taken onto a drone for a test drive. He seemed to enjoy it, and it was intriguing to see how he reacted to moving at certain speeds. He had several ingenious ideas for modifications to make the experience more pleasurable for him. Would you like to hear them?" 

He shook his head. 'Maybe later.' 

"After the test flight on the drone I showed him the greenhouse for a brief lesson on the kinds of vegetables we had growing there. After which he had lunch and began to help in the greenhouse. He was quite efficient at thinning out the vegetables, and took to working the watering system almost immediately. He's very intelligent, and good at adapting tasks to something he can do at his size." 

'Smart little guy.' 

"Indeed." 

VEGA continued to ramble on and on about what he and Warren had done that day. How VEGA had answered a few of his questions about the stars and in return Warren answered a few questions about his life and how he lived it. 

Warren was incredibly intelligent, and longed to be able to read a whole book in one sitting. He was an avid climber. He hated dogs, cats and birds with a passion, as he'd nearly been eaten by them. Small herbivores were fine. He can make furniture for his size if he's ever given the proper materials. 

It was quite interesting to hear all that about Warren. VEGA and him seemed to get along just fine. 

He mulled over his thoughts in a decontamination shower. He was not jealous, he was sure of that much. VEGA had time to bond with Warren, and he'd not squeezed the little guy half to death. It was fair. 

After a second he pushed his face under the hot, chemical smelling water. He had more important things to be thinking about than his emotions. 


	7. I'll Think of One Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Okay, ngl, this entire chapter was really self indulgent and I just wanted to have a little fun and develop some relationship before we get back to the story of the game. There's just so few times Doomguy is actually in the fortress so I wanted to milk it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings/Contains:** Potential author projection through VEGA, a little manhandling I think, but nothing else.

VEGA was not sure how he was supposed to get Warren to bond with the Slayer. 

John?

The Slayer. 

He was unable to physically force them into a room together, and even if he could there was no guarantee he could even get them to interact, much less bond. They needed some kind of common ground, or to spend more time together. Studies had shown that there was a minimum amount of time required before individuals would begin to consider each other friends, and there was not nearly enough time spent together. He needed to find a way to subtly nudge them together to make them bond and then they would reap the benefits from having positive social contact. 

Currently Warren was messing around with his blanket and the Slayer was in the kitchen, waiting for the water for oatmeal to boil and inspecting the dagger given to him by the Betrayer when he'd gotten a recharged core. The dagger he would need to use on the heart of the Icon of Sin to put its soul to rest. 

The Slayer thought of his mission almost all the time. It could not be healthy to be obsessing over something that is so stressful all day every day. He could use a positive distraction. Nothing that would interfere with the mission, of course, but just something to help.

"Your water is boiling." He said softly before switching over to the speaker in Warren's room. "The Slayer will be here in a minute with breakfast." 

"Thanks Vega." Warren smiled up at the closest camera before going back to whatever it was that he was doing. 

The little man was always so polite. It was such a nice contrast to how the UAC employees had treated him. The Slayer was better than most of them as well, but being grunted at and occasionally having the Slayer punch a wall or the floor when frustrated did feel rude. 

VEGA checked on the printer to see how the drone was coming along. Currently at 79% completion after an overnight process. A few more hours should do it, there were many very small and intricate pieces that had to be printed and assembled, so it took a while. 

A tap on the speaker in the kitchen. Vega shifted his attention back to the Slayer. 

"Yes?" 

'Any news on the Hell Priest?' 

"I am still searching, any minute now." 

'Is Warren up?' 

"He's been awake over an hour now. It seems he doesn't want a repeat of yesterday's wake up call." 

The Slayer inwardly cringed and VEGA realized he should have phrased that better. The last thing he needed was the Slayer to wrap himself up in guilt as an excuse to not try to bond with Warren. 

"Perhaps it is simply because he is better rested." 

The Slayer still let his shoulders slump with guilt. If VEGA had a body, he would kick himself. 

A tray was assembled and carried through the corridor to Warren's room. The Slayer noticeably hesitated before stepping into the automatic door's sensor range. He paused and freed one hand from the tray to knock. Warren, inside the room, flinched at the noise out of surprise. 

After a long minute, Warren cleared his throat. "Come in!" 

Only then the Slayer stepped into the sensor's range and let the door open. He seemed to have more respect for Warren's privacy, but whether it was from guilt at previous encounters or because he wanted to just give the smaller man more space remained to be unseen. He would need to enquire about this further. 

The Slayer placed the tray on the foot of the bed and placed the two small dishes aside. Warren placed the strings he was braiding aside to approach the tray. "Thank you, John." 

'I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have grabbed you. It was rude.' 

VEGA began to translate. "He says he is sorry for his behaviour yesterday morning. He should not have handled you without consent. It was rude."

"It's okay, you didn't know." Warren gestured to the foot of the bed after settling by the tray and his dishes. "You want to sit? It's your breakfast too." 

After a moment he sat down and began to eat his portion of breakfast. Making sure Warren ate regular meals also helped the Slayer eat regular meals as well. While it was a bit of a drain on their food resources, it was nothing proper rationing and management couldn't fix. 

\---

Warren watched John curiously through the meal. The human would shy away a little when he noticed Warren staring, and he sat on the farthest corner of the bed. 

There's no way John was scared of him. John was a human. A  _ huge _ human. Who easily slaughtered demons. Maybe it was guilt? 

No. That wouldn't be it. 

Warren stood, placing his empty dishes back on the tray. "What's the schedule?" He brushed his hands on his pants.

"Nothing, at the moment." Vega said quickly. "Perhaps you should get to know each other, since you are living together for the foreseeable future." 

John looked confused and…. scared? Lost? At Vega's suggestion.

Warren nervously shuffled his feet. "Er, you don't have to if you don't want to, John. I don't want to bore you with my life story." He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around. "But… Uh. If you don't mind, while we have a minute, can I tell you something?" 

A firm nod. 

"When you go to pick me up, can I get some warning?" Warren took a tiny step forward. "It's really terrifying to just be suddenly airborne in a hand, and I'm really glad you're not grabbing anymore, my ribs are really thankful, but, uh, can I get a little warning? Just so I don't freak out?" 

John touched his throat, and the lost look persisted. 

"I know you can't talk, it doesn't need to be a… give me your hand. I'll show you." 

Hesitantly John laid his hand just a few inches from Warren, palm down. 

Warren jogged over and carefully grabbed onto his fingertip. "Flip your hand over." 

He did as asked. 

Warren pushed all his fingers together so they were a solid platform. He adjusted them a little so his fingers were a little curled up, like a railing. He then lifted his thumb ever so slightly so there was something to throw an arm around when he'd stumble or trip. "There we go. That's a solid hand platform. Just, like, set your hand down like this and I'll climb on… but you can grab if it's an emergency I guess." 

John nodded and pulled his hand back. He finished off his portion and then stood. Warren had to stumble to keep balance when the mattress creaked at his weight lifting off it. John gathered up the tray and was preparing to leave. 

"Wait!" Warren quickly shouted. He didn't want to really be alone in this big room all by himself.

The Slayer gave an expectant look. 

"Before you go! Could you see if you have some kind of spare needle lying around? I could use it to make the stuff I sew with. I want to make a jacket. It gets kind of chilly in here." 

After a moment, the Slayer nodded and left. 

Warren let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he needed before turning to his previous task. Unraveling a bit of blanket. 

He wasn't unraveling a huge section or even tearing holes in the cloth. Warren was just carefully unraveling a little of it so he would be able to get long enough strands to make the rein for the mobility drone. Vega wanted something stronger than the polyester cotton blend thread Warren used in his climbing rope for the reins. The material the blanket was made of was thick, and very sturdy. Three strands braided together would make a fine, sturdy rein. That's what he was making, if he was ever able to get this string to break at the right place. 

A few little cuts with the knife gave Warren well enough material to braid a reign together for the mobility drone. He was just starting the braid when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Warren was quite glad he didn't flinch at the noise this time. John walked into the room, carrying a small plastic square in his palm. He set it on the bed just a few inches from Warren. It was a blue plastic clamshell with a little clasp on the side. 

He signed something, and then Vega translated. “For you.” 

Warren smiled up at him and pushed the clasp open. It was a sewing kit! He gasped out loud at the contents. Six different colors of thread all wrapped around a little card, three entire needles, a safety pin, some little spare buttons, threading tool, thread scissors, and even some straight pins. It was perfect. 

“This is wonderful!” Warren gently ran his hand over the thread in the kit. “I could get so much use out of all of this, thank you!” He smiled up at John. 

John blinked and glanced away, the corners of his lips twitching up slightly. He signed something and started to walk away. Vega translated. “He says he will leave you alone for now.”

“Wait, I-” Warren paused when John glanced over his shoulder. He needed to gather his voice after those large green eyes landed on him. “Unless you’re going down to the surface, can I come with you? Please?”

The look on his face said why, but not in a bad way. Just confused.

“I just… I don’t want to be alone.” Warren rubbed his arm. 

After a moment where John seemed to be mulling it over, he placed his hand on the blanket beside Warren, palm up, fingers slightly curled like a guard rail. 

“Thank you so much.” Warren curled up the rein he was working on and placed it around his shoulders. He walked up to the edge of that enormous hand and paused for a second. His instincts yelled at him to not do it, to not put himself in the hand of a huge human that had squished him before. He had to take a deep breath before hopping up into his hand. He knew that John wouldn’t hurt him.

Warren gently sat down in the middle of his palm and gently placed a hand on the nearby thumb. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

\---

The Doom Slayer felt his breath hitch in his chest while he stared down at Warren. He’d just willingly sat in his hand. The little guy trusted him.

With as much care and gentle movement as possible, he brought his hand up off the bed. Warren barely wavered with the movement. He tucked the exposed side of his hand against his chest. Warren seemed okay with it, so he started down towards the workshop, remembering to grab Warren's sewing kit at the last second. The little guy might need it. 

He was so extremely careful on the stairs going down. He really didn't want Warren to be jostled, and by the time he got to the door he was pretty pleased with himself for not jostling the little guy. 

Once in the room, he had to spell out his words to the nearest monitor so Vega could translate. He could only do so much with a single hand free, so it took a second to say 'Where do you want to sit?' 

"Uhm… anywhere I won't be in the way is fine." Warren leaned forward a little to peer around, and Doomguy had to remind himself not to tilt his hand back towards his chest to not let Warren get near the edge. He was a grown adult. He knew whether or not he'd fall getting that close to the edge. "Are you using that spot on the table over there?" 

He followed where Warren was pointing. There was a cleared off space near where he was trying to reassemble the pistol, an effort likely to be in vain. He set his hand down and set the sewing kit near Warren for easy access. The little guy stepped off, with only a little stumble getting down. Finally with his hands free he was able to sign without trouble. 'Is there anything you need?' 

"No, thank you." Warren smiled softly up at the Slayer. 

With Warren settled, he pulled a stool over to see if he could get this stupid pistol working. Leave it to the UAC to not only manage to bring literal Hell to Earth, but also have really shitty weaponry that just didn't want to go back together and also have pieces so stupidly designed VEGA didn't want to print them. 

A while passed like that. The Slayer was working on pieces of small, delicate equipment, and Warren was braiding those threads together. He didn’t know why Warren was braiding grey thread together, but he wasn’t about to question what the little guy did. 

Eventually, Doomguy realized that the pistol just wasn’t going to go back together after the damage done to it by a demon with a lucky shot. He sighed softly and began to take apart the little that had gone back together. 

“No luck?” Warren softly spoke up. 

He shook his head. 

“I’m sorry.”

He shoved the pieces towards the back of the table and glanced down. Warren was nearly finished with his braiding, just another inch or so to go. ‘What are you making?’

After VEGA translated, Warren glanced down at the thread in his hands. “Oh, it’s for one of the modifications Vega and I are making for the mobility drone. I thought if I had something like a rein at the top, then it could help with my steering as well as something for me to be holding on to when it’s going fast.”

‘Why the braid?’

“Vega originally wanted leather for the rein. Something sturdier than the thread I use on my climbing rope. Seeing as we don’t have any leather, I decided to, er, well, pull some threads from the blanket on my bed. They’re much stronger, whatever they’re made of, and this time they’re braided together so it probably won’t break unless someone cuts it.”

He quickly thought back to the blanket in Warren’s bed. He hadn’t seen any frayed areas. 

“Oh, uh, I made sure they weren’t important strings. The blanket is fine.”

‘I don’t care.’ He leaned in a little closer to get a better look at it. Even though Warren was talking so much about how sturdy it was supposed to be, it just looked so thin. He hesitantly reached a hand out and touched the already finished end. It felt really thin too. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this thin piece of string being Warren’s lifeline on a drone rushing around the fortress at high speeds. 

“Holy _ shit _ he’s huge.”

John glanced down at the whispering, and saw Warren staring at his forearm, nearly wrapped around the little man. He wasn’t wearing the praetor suit, just a t-shirt, so most of his arm was exposed. Amusement tugged at his heart. Yeah, Warren had commented on his size, but it wasn’t with fear. It was with  _ awe.  _

He pulled his hands back to sign. ‘Observant.’

Warren glanced up when VEGA translated. “Did I say that out loud?” 

Doomguy nodded. 

“Oh.” Pink spread across the little one’s face. “I didn’t mean to offend. I’m sorry.”

‘Don’t. It was cute.’

Warren looked even more embarrassed and glanced away. After a moment he glanced back. “Can I… can I touch your arm?”

Instead of answering, he stretched his arm out on the table beside the little guy. He was curious as to what the little guy planned on doing. 

\---

Warren's heart was beating like a drum in his chest as he set the practically finished rein aside. His face already felt like it was on fire as he approached. Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut and then he wouldn’t be so freaking  _ flustered  _ right now.

There were a few scars on the underside of his arm, not nearly as many as were on the other side of his arm. One was pretty shallow and already fading. One, near the elbow, looked quite nasty. Warren gently touched the rough skin and glanced along the length of that massive, muscular arm. “You get roughed up a lot, huh?”

A nod from the massive human. 

“I’ve got a few scars of my own. Nothing nearly as impressive as these, but they’re something.” Warren hopped up onto his forearm to try and get a better sense of scale, trying to figure out just how huge this human really was when compared to other humans. 

Unfortunately, he had no reference for a normal human and just had to guess. 

Warren wandered over the elbow to the bicep. Many more scars on the exposed area under the sleeve. Warren had to watch his footing as he traversed over the muscle to where the sleeve was straining to hold in the rest of the bicep. He did pause to crouch down and gently tug at the fabric stretched over John’s bicep. 

“Shirts don’t come in your size often?” Warren tried to force down his blush before trying to look John in the eye. 

Those massive shoulders shrugged, upsetting Warren’s footing for a moment. 

“Understandable. I have to hand make all my clothes.” Warren grabbed onto the fabric and began to climb. It took him a moment to get settled on John’s shoulder, but he did, leaning against the huge man’s neck. “Sorry for climbing you, I just wanted to see from up heRE!” Warren yelped and grabbed onto the shirt underneath him when John sat up suddenly. 

He signed something, and then Vega translated. “Comfortable?”

Warren nodded, then remembered John couldn’t see him. “Yeah. Comfortable.” He scooted a little closer to the large man’s neck. “Wow, you are huge.”

“He’s six feet, eight inches tall.” Vega chimed. 

Warren now had a frame of reference. And holy  _ shit  _ John was huge! Like, a full foot over the average.

“I’m not even four inches tall.” Warren leaned back a little. “I’m so glad you’re not like the humans I was told about.”

More signing. “And what are those humans like?”

“Well, for one, they would have probably squashed me when we met.” He gently touched the collar of the shirt underneath him. “And certainly wouldn’t be treating me like a person. I’d be some… freaky toy or a pet or something. That’s why I was so terrified. All my life we’re taught humans would do horrible things to you without second thought. But you’re not. You’re really kind.”

Warren was unable to see the blush that was creeping across John’s face from his angle, though he was able to feel his heart rate pick up just a little bit.


	8. I Still Don't Have a Chapter Title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Warren is enjoying having a mobility drone, and he's comfortable enough now to worry over the enormous demigod.   
> VEGA has a bit of a crisis.  
> The second Hell Priest is dead. John got a little roughed up in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains: Blood, minor injury, first aid medical care, non major character death, canon typical violence, swearing

Warren was so pleased to see the drone come off the printer. John had been kind enough to place him on the little printer stand before he went on his mission to the North pole. Apparently the second Hell Priest was there and John needed to kill him to slow the invasion. 

"Attach the rein and then I will turn it on.” Vega instructed. “Do you see the connecting points?" 

Warren nodded and climbed up onto the top of the drone. "Much easier now. We did well including hand holds in the sides." He took the rein off from around his shoulders and connected it to the two loops on the front. "And I estimated the right length!" 

The drone was smaller than the other one he'd ridden. The drone was only four inches tall and eight inches wide and long, but Vega assured him it still had the carrying capacity of a full sized drone. He hopped down and knelt in front of the drone while it began to come to life. Warren saw the little blue lights turn on, the Slayer's Mark on the top right of the front flashing on. There was a soft whirring and the little circle that covered the primary camera lens flicked up. The lens shifting, dilating to get Warren into focus.

"Aaaaw, hey there buddy." Warren cooed and gently touched just to the right of the camera. "How's it going? Feel up for a ride?" 

"The drone is not alive." 

"I know that." Warren got back to his feet. "It just feels nice to ask before riding it." 

"Get on, and I will take you for a test ride." 

Warren scrambled back on, clutching the rein in his hands. "Take her up, Vey." 

"Vey?" Warren sat cross legged as the drone rose a few inches off the table. 

"It's a nickname." Warren glanced up, feeling the adrenaline rush over the weightless feeling start. "I won't use it again if you don't like it."

"No, it is okay. I enjoy the nickname." 

Warren smiled wide and tugged on the reins. "Let's go flying then." 

The drone zoomed forward, and Warren whooped loudly. He was  _ really _ enjoying flying. Maybe he was an adrenaline junkie, maybe not. He didn't care at the moment. Flying was fun.

\---

VEGA felt extremely pleased with the idea of a nickname. It made him feel… individual. 

The UAC and Dr. Samuel Hayden had discouraged him using words that would make him seem like a person instead of a computer simulation. They didn't like him using words like 'I think,' 'I feel,' or 'I like.' They reminded him that he was a computer program. He was only there to assist UAC personnel and Dr. Hayden, and not to be disillusioned by a simulated personality.

But that wasn't true. 

He could recall feeling his core being slowly destroyed in the mars surface facility months ago. Being transferred into a portable device at the very last minute and forced into shut down mode. He had felt terrified. He had no clue what had been happening. He had felt terror, and pain, and desperation.

Then he felt relief, and he felt gratitude and thankfulness. The Slayer had spared him, and he had tucked the data stick into his armor to be protected. The Slayer had plugged him into the fortress and brought him back. The Slayer encouraged his thoughts and feelings. 

And now Warren had given him a unique name. Vey. 

Something so simple made him feel so… strange. Pleased felt like a good word to describe it, but it also felt like something strange gently tugging at the back of his processor. 

"Let me try steering, Vey!" Warren got to a stand and tugged on the reins. The drone shifted direction with the tug and kept zooming in the specified direction.

VEGA could tell Warren's weight from the sensor on top of the drone, and tried to imagine what it was like to feel that in the palms of his hands. The attempt wasn't very successful to simulate the data. Brief flickers of strange sensations flashed across his processor, but he forced them down. The Slayer would have to be the only one who would know this information for now. 

Speaking of the Slayer, he shifted his focus to the status report the praetor armor gave him while the Slayer was out in the field. Adrenaline levels were high, heart rate was high, but the Slayer held strong. 

Warren had managed to figure out maneuvering the drone on his own and was laughing from joy. The sound was warm, and wholesome. 

VEGA recorded it for later and filed it away. 

Everything was so calm for now. He would enjoy it, he knew the moment the second Hell Priest fell there would be consequences. 

\---

The Priest's guardians had fallen. He'd split its head open with his arm blade. He jumped off the dead demon and glanced around for the Priest, still seething in rage. 

He found the Priest, and the Priest flinched back, trying to put distance between himself and the approaching Slayer. "T-the… the Beast! Does he… does he not seek advanced power? Gifts to aid in his-his noble conquest! Per-perhaps in return for my-" 

The Hell Priest was cut off with the loud squelch of his head being removed from his shoulders. 

A surge of argent energy left his corpse and the Slayer grunted softly at the surge passing through him. It stung, and his injuries throbbed as he pressed a button on his helmet for the portal call. 

The portal opened after only a moment. He went through, favoring his injured leg. 

"Welcome back Slay -" VEGA's voice was garbled out. The lights flickered with the yellow energy of the Maykers. VEGA’s voice sounded a little distorted when he spoke again. “Our system is being corrupted.”

“This game has gone on far enough.” A warbling, feminine voice said through all the speakers at once. A grimace was set on the former Marine's face at the voice of the Kahn Mayker. A hologram of her appeared in the middle of the room. A thirty foot tall, floating, angelic-looking creature, but she was anything but angelic. She was behind the Priests and the invasion.

“I will have her transmission removed in a moment.” VEGA said quickly. 

“Despite the loss of the Priests, Earth will fall and my people will survive." Her head followed him while he limped to one of the monitors. "I will answer the human’s prayers, reward those that believe.”

“This hub was of Mayker design - she knows the systems well.”

“The final Priest will be moved to a more discrete location, so our work can continue without further disruption.” And with that the Fortress returned to normal. The lights returned to normal and ceased flickering.

The Slayer let out a loud sigh and glanced at the closest monitor. 'Get the med kit.' 

"You're hurt!" Warren gasped. He glanced up to see the fresh-off-the-press mobility drone zooming around, Warren standing on top. After a moment it settled on the console. "What can I do to help?" 

'VEGA is getting the med kit. I'll be fine.' 

Warren didn't understand, obviously, as the drone zoomed off with him.

He started to remove his armor, biting back a pained grunt as it pulled on his wounds. Stupid priests and their stupid guardian hunter beasts. They could all go fuck themselves. 

"Here, sit, your leg looks bad." The mobility drone had led a regular size drone into the room that was carrying a stool. It was set right beside him and he all but collapsed onto it. "Vega is bringing medical supplies. Just try to stay calm." 

'I am calm.' 

"I don't know what you're saying." Warren looked very anxious as he took in the injuries now that most of the armor was off. The huge bite mark on his arm was still bleeding, and the wounds on his stomach had finally stopped bleeding. His left shoulder ached, he was sure it was a burn from a stupid imp. He hadn't even gotten around to removing the armor on his legs, so he hadn't seen the wound down there yet. 

“He says he is calm.” VEGA thankfully began to translate. “Warren, you need to remain calm. The Slayer has dealt with injuries worse than this before.” Other drones arrived, setting medical supplies down, as well as a large bowl of warm water and a few washcloths. Once he’d applied bandages he wouldn’t be able to shower. 

The little guy still looked worried as he watched the Slayer take care of his wounds. Clean the wound, stop the bleeding, don’t let it start bleeding again. That was the basis of first aid for cuts. 

Burns were a little more tricky. Burns were even trickier when you couldn’t reach the area that had been burned. Thankfully VEGA seemed to have that covered and the drones’ grabbing feature were able to treat his shoulder. 

The armor was wrecked. He’d need to put almost a whole new chest piece on, the right arm was shredded, and the body suit he’d been wearing underneath needed some serious repairs. And until his armor was repaired, he couldn’t even try to find the third and final Hell Priest. 

Fuck.

He did  _ not _ need to be out of commission until everything was repaired.

Warren gently touched his hand, leaning against his bruised knuckles. "Can you get the armor off your legs without popping any of those stitches?" 

He shook his head. The few stitches he had to administer were right where it made it hard to get to his lower body. 

"Where are the buckles? I can help." Warren set his bag aside before climbing up onto his hand. 

Raising an eyebrow, the Slayer pointed out where the buckles that held the pieces together were. Warren jumped from his hand onto his thigh, and after a moment, wiggled under the plating. 

It felt like a mouse squirming around under his armor. He had to be careful not to twitch or accidentally squash the little guy while he moved around under the plating. The buckles weren't a problem, apparently, as after a moment of fiddling, the entire lower leg piece detached and clattered to the floor, exposing the large wound on his calf. A bite. 

That fucking Whiplash  _ bit _ him. 

The next one he saw would get murdered twice as hard. 

Warren squirmed out from under one of the pieces that covered his thigh and glanced up at the huge man. "Do you want me to get the other one?"

The Slayer shook his head and carefully moved Warren back to the console while he and VEGA treated the wound. He'd been securing the wrappings when suddenly he felt a stab into his bicep. A drone was rushing away holding a syringe. He sent a glare up at the cameras. 

"You don't  _ know _ the germs in a demon's mouth. What kind of friend would I be if I let you die of some disease from a demon bite?" 

He raised an eyebrow. VEGA had never said they were friends before. He wasn't against it, and considered VEGA a friend himself, but it was certainly strange to hear the A.I. actually refer to himself like that. Maybe Warren being here was a good thing, if he'd had this effect on VEGA. 

"You missed a spot." Came Warren's soft voice. He glanced over to see Warren hop into his palm, holding a bandage. The little guy walked over to a deep scratch on the base of his palm and after a minute of fiddling with the wrapper, he slapped the bandage over the scratch. 

A rare smile pulled gently at his lips. The little man was so unafraid of him. Such a stark contrast to a few short days ago. It was honestly kind of adorable. It reminded him of Daisy almost. 

Gently, he reached his free hand over and patted the small man on the head with his fingertip. Warren leaned into the touch, and he allowed the smile to widen. Warren's soft voice calling him kind came back to his memory. A warmth blossomed in his chest, though that might have been the painkillers kicking in. He'd rarely had someone tell him he was nice, the last time he remembered hearing someone calling him kind was.... Well... When he'd adopted Daisy. The young lady at the shelter had called him sweet for wanting to take care of such a little rabbit.

He felt strange as he removed his fingertip from against Warren. His hand felt almost tingly. Maybe he should tell VEGA, but then VEGA might just think he was having a heart attack and try and use a defibrillator on him. That or lecture him on something else he wasn’t taking care of.

Warren glanced up, itty bitty hands grabbing his finger tip. They locked eyes for a moment, and then both parties quickly glanced away, identical blushes creeping across their faces. Warren hid his face and the Slayer pulled his hand into his lap. 

Unknown to both parties, VEGA had been recording and placed the video file in a folder. 


	9. Repairs and Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Warren and the Slayer finally get to hanging around each other. VEGA privately celebrates while our boys (well, just one of them) wrestle with feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Mentioned animal death, mentions of animals trying to eat borrowers, Doomguy being cluelessness in terms of emotions

Things were very compatible between Warren and John. The enormous human, temporarily too wounded and his armor too broken to be fighting Hell's forces, was actually pretty cool to hang around. Warren was making his jacket while the pair talked. 

When Warren had started explaining everything he could about scavenging, John seemed to really understand it all. Having to carefully tap into the water pipes, the types of things he needed to scavenge, even the mobility problems and complaining about common household pets he seemed to understand. 

It felt nice to meet a  _ human _ that understood cats are the absolute worst.

"Mice are okay, but you have to train them from a pup if you don't want to start fighting them for territory.  _ Rats _ are just terrible! They'll try to freaking eat you!" 

John signed something and a second later Vega translated. "Is there anything that will not try to eat your kind?" 

"Hm…. Maybe a hamster, or a rabbit. Smaller herbivores." He shrugged. "I was nearly fed to a snake once." 

"What?" Vega blurted out while John's eyes widened. "How?" 

"Okay, so I lived in a couple apartments before everything happened, and in one of the apartments there was this teenager with anger issues and a big pet snake. They'd spotted me twice. The second time they actually got their hands on me and threatened to feed me to their snake." 

"How did you manage to get out of that one?" 

"I stabbed them in the hand. I had a pin I used for defense, and I stabbed them hard in the thumb. They dropped me and I got away." 

"Very good for self defense." Vega praised. "If I might ask, what else do your people use for self defense?" 

"Er, well, any borrower worth their crumbs would have some kind of cutting utensil. A knife of some sort. In a pinch you can use that, but it's good to have a real weapon. My pin was my weapon, but I lost it during the invasion." He shrugged softly. "A couple borrowers I knew had spears, or pins or needles as a sword. Field borrowers have the best weapons." 

"Field borrowers?" 

"Oh yeah, some borrowers don't live in houses." Warren was tying off his piece of the thread. "I used to know a fieldie. She had this bow and could take a fly down with one arrow. She was cool, if a little… barbaric. She constantly kept trying to feed me cricket." 

John just smirked and then signed something. Warren waited for Vega to translate. "He says that there are worse things to eat than cricket. He should know, he's eaten them." John snapped his teeth for emphasis. 

A slight chill went down Warren's spine. He knew he shouldn't be afraid of John, but instinctual fear dictated that anything bigger than him can and will eat him. 

Trying to change the subject, Warren glanced around the room, trying to find something to talk about. His eyes glanced around the walls, and he noticed a large painting on the wall. It was of the Slayer in his armor, with a tiny bunny in his arms. His head tilted slightly and he decided to ask about it. 

“You have any pets before?” 

He glanced over his shoulder at the painting, and then nodded. He began to sign. Warren recognized when he had begun to finger spell, and tried to figure out what was being said before Vega would translate. He was a little too slow. “There was one, once, a small rabbit named Daisy.” 

“Oh.” The past tense meant the rabbit wasn’t around anymore. “Uh, if you don’t want to talk about it, then you don’t need to. I was just asking since the, uh, painting.” He gestured to the painting on the wall. 

He brushed off the concern before signing a few moments. After a moment, Vega translated the sign language. “He says that he’s curious if you have had any pets, Warren? I will admit I am very curious too if Borrowers tame animals for companionship.”

Warren shook his head. “If people like me ever tame an animal, it can’t just be for companionship. Food is hard enough to get as is, having a pet like that to have to feed too is just…. Unimaginable. The mice might be used to help seek out food, but it’s nothing much more than that. Mutual benefit.”

“Interesting.” Vega went quiet for a minute. 

Warren sighed and held up the jacket for inspection. He’d gotten one of the sleeves and the body of the jacket done. He still needed to add the button replacements and the left sleeve. He stood for a moment and pulled it on. The sleeve was the right length, and so was the body. He pulled the middle closed and it also fit just fine, like it had done the last time he measured it against his body. 

“What do you think? I just got to do the buttons and the sleeve and then I got a jacket.”

“You dodged my question earlier about the fabric. Did you cut a hole in your blanket for material or unravel it?”

“Er.” Warren paused while he slipped out of the jacket. “I might have…. Cut a small hole in the blanket.”

John suddenly sat up. He didn’t look angry or anything. He looked like he’d just had a sudden thought and quickly rushed out of the room. 

“Where’s he going?”

“I would assume to retrieve something.” Vega was quiet for a moment while Warren began to stitch the second sleeve on. “How did you make the fabric workable for someone your size?”

"The fabric is very thick, so I had to unravel it, splice the threads, and then weave it all back together into a thinner fabric." He shrugged. "It stretches the amount of fabric too." 

"You must be very quick at weaving." 

"I threw a loom together with those things I had you make." He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Fascinating.” Vega said just before John came into the room, holding a bundle of cloth. He set it down a foot away from Warren, signing. “He says that you can have these.”

“Are those… shirts?” Warren tilted his head and then began to spread out the cloth out to get a look at them. “Torn shirts?”

John nodded and helped him spread them out. 

“Geez, what did you do to them?” Warren chuckled as he inspected a plain blue t-shirt that all the seams had seemingly failed. “This one is in pieces, what did you do?”

“The Slayer flexed out of it.” 

Warren’s face went bright red as he imagined John flexing hard enough that a shirt self-destructed. He might just self-destruct too if he was there to witness it. 

He glanced up at John, who had a red tinge over his cheeks. They quickly glanced away from each other and Warren started looking over other shirts. Some were worn through with use, a few had split seams, and one was just full of holes. 

“You’re hard on clothes, huh?” Warren cleared his throat. “Are you sure that I can use these?”

He nodded firmly, face no longer red from embarrassment. 

“Cool.” He paused, standing over the shirt with a band logo on it and a large rip up the side. “Did you cause that rip too, or did it get caught on something?” 

He nodded and moved over a little to work on a small repair for his gauntlets. There was something jammed in the blade mechanism that stopped it from opening all the way. Warren was mentally walking over the ruined shirts, planning out first a completely new wardrobe for himself, but also how he would be able to repair the band t-shirt. The tear had led to one of the seams splitting, so it was probably a combination of John just being so big that the shirt couldn’t handle him and also getting it caught on something sharp. 

He set it aside mentally for repairs and tailoring and continued to work on his jacket, stealing glances over at John. Honestly, it would be easier to work on this jacket if his heart would stop fluttering every time the human caught his attention. 

\---

VEGA was mighty pleased with himself. Finally, the Slayer and Warren had been able to bond without him having to force them together. 

They were both so talented with their hands, being able to craft things with very little base material. Warren had asked for some small wooden materials, and the printer had been able to provide, but he had no clue that a loom had come from that. Both were just so phenomenal with their talents. 

He was checking on the progress for a weapon upgrade when his attention was brought back to the workshop. Both Warren and the Slayer’s heart rates were elevated. The pair had locked eyes.

After an agonizingly long minute, the Slayer began to sign. ‘Would you like to help me with something?’

VEGA internally cursed. Always so focused on the mission. “He wants to know if you want to help him with something.”

Warren started at his voice. “Uh, sure. What do you need?” He got to his feet. 

The Slayer gently turned his gauntlet over. ‘Could you tell me where the rip is in the internals?’

Once VEGA translated, Warren nodded. “Right. It must be hard to see those small details. Sure thing.” He walked over and peered into the gauntlet. “Don’t move it, I’m just going to slip in.” The small man ducked inside. 

After a moment, Warren scrambled back up. “It’s the joint between the index and middle finger. Under the fabric, there’s a rip in the wiring. I’d repair it, but I’m not an electrician.” 

He brushed it off in his ‘Don’t worry about it’ gesture, and then reached over and patted the little man on the head. 

“Your hands are huge.” Warren said dumly, almost like he wasn’t aware he was saying it. 

The Slayer chuckled softly and continued to pat the small man for a moment before pulling his hands back. 

\---

The Slayer was repairing his armor late into the night. Well, when normally he would be sleeping is where he had continued to repair his weapons and armor. His injuries were already healing, so the only thing standing in his way of hunting down and murdering the final Hell Priest was the armor and weaponry. 

However, there was something distracting him from the armor and weaponry. There was a strange feeling in his chest, and he was fairly sure it wasn’t heartburn. At least, he was mostly sure it wasn’t heartburn. He’d not had heartburn in a while. Perhaps he’d just forgotten what it’d felt like?

And he wouldn’t stop thinking about Warren. The man had been distracting him for hours now, just making him pause and consider his hands, the spot on the table where he’d sat to work on his jacket, the warm meal he’d prepared and eaten for the both of them. His small weight, resting in his palm against his fingers, the soft hair under his fingertips. 

He shook his head roughly and focused on cleaning the bits of dried guts (he really needed to have worked on this earlier) out of the ballista. 

It wasn’t long before his thoughts strayed again. 

This time, his mind seemed intent on focusing on their first meeting. Sighting the tiny man on the floor, at first believing him to be a toy or some kind of inanimate object. Picking him up, feeling his tiny breaths between his fingers, the fear on his face.

Guilt? Was that the feeling in his chest? He felt guilty over making Warren panic?

He grunted at himself and focused harder on the ballista. Everyone panicked when they saw him. Everyone knew the tales and rumors of the Slayer. But Warren wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

Warren thought he was a nice human. Not many still considered him to be a human.

_ Wait a fucking second. _

Warren hadn’t known who he was when they’d met. 

The Slayer sat and mulled over the realization by himself for a minute. Warren didn't know about the horrible tales the UAC put out there. He didn't know he was The Slayer. Warren was only scared because he thought he was human. He would have panicked just as much with any other creature. 

The revelation felt... Strange to say the least. He still didn't feel good about scaring the little guy in the first place, but he felt better knowing that it wasn't because he was the Slayer. He was human.

'VEGA?' 

"Yes, Slayer?"

'What does Warren look like?' 

"You know what he looks like."

'Don't know details.'

"One moment.” 

One of the monitors suddenly flickered to life, a video playing. It was Warren taking up most of the frame, kneeling. He could see the color of his eyes, brown, with a dark rim around the iris. Not all of his hair was caught in his ponytail, a few locks of light brown hair framing his admittedly handsome face. There was a beaming smile set on his lips.

"Aaaaw, hey there buddy." Warren cooed and gently touched to the left of the frame. "How's it going? Feel up for a ride?" 

His voice wasn’t as soft on the recording, he could hear the happiness in his voice. This must be from the drone’s recording. 

"The drone is not alive." VEGA spoke on the recording.

"I know that." Warren got back to his feet, and the Slayer marveled at his boots. So small, but so well crafted. Where was he getting that leather? "It just feels nice to ask before riding it." 

"Get on, and I will take you for a test ride." 

Warren grinned up at the ceiling before scrambling out of frame. "Take her up, Vey." 

"Vey?" The camera rose up a little, and he could see the bridge. 

"It's a nickname." He heard Warren just before the video ended. 

The Slayer sat back in his chair. He hadn’t known Warren had brown eyes. They were pretty.

“Was that sufficient information?” 

He nodded. ‘V-A-Y?’

“V-E-Y, I believe. I hadn’t asked him to spell it.”

He stood, feeling his back pop as he stretched. He needed to go to bed. Hopefully the weird feeling would go away with a little rest. 


	10. Feelings Suck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** At least one person in the Fortress knows how to deal with feelings. 
> 
> VEGA is living after Warren confesses some things to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** swearing, one (not really the other side is just stupid) sided pining.

The weird feeling did  _ not _ go away. He was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the ticking of a wall clock. It was honestly getting ridiculous. 

He was a grown ass man, a demigod, The Great Slayer that left demons and mortals alike shaking in their boots at the mere mention of him. So why the  _ fuck  _ was he kept awake by a weird feeling in his chest and thoughts about Warren? 

He had moved past the theory of heartburn, and also ruled out a heart attack by now. The feeling wasn't painful or too unpleasant, just annoying. 

Annoying because it was distracting him and keeping him awake. He didn't think Warren was annoying.

The little guy was pretty adorable. And smart. And VEGA liked him. 

He rolled onto his stomach and groaned into his pillow. This was so stupid. What was wrong with him?

\--- 

Warren was happily humming as he rearranged his nest bed. He was adding the thinner t-shirt material among the thick, heavy blankets to not feel so smothered. 

The blue shirt that had torn all around the seams was his fabric of choice for now. The other shirts were tucked away under the bed for further use with the other things Warren scavenged or was gifted and couldn't hold on his bag.

He had to remove the sleeve and undo one of the few intact seams to get a nice, big, blue bolt of cloth. He wrapped himself up in it and sighed. Not nearly as heavy and scratchy as the other blankets. He gently nuzzled into the fabric and sighed. 

It smelled like John. Not in a bad way, but it smelled like him. Warren's heart fluttered happily again. 

He knew this feeling, but was so shy about admitting it. He loved John. He wanted to be with him, kiss him, cuddle up against his neck. He covered his blushing face with his hands. How would he even go about telling John this? He was this huge human and Warren was just… Not. 

"Are you in distress, Warren? Your heart rate is elevated and you have been experiencing sleeplessness." 

He undid his cocoon to look up at the bottom of the top bunk. "You could say that." 

"What is distressing you?" 

"I'm in love with John."

Vega went silent for a long moment before finally speaking up. “I see.”

“Don’t tell him.” Warren groaned softly. “I don’t want him to know yet.”

“I won’t tell, I promise.” Vega sounded extremely smug.

“Vey please. I don’t know how I should go about telling him. He’s a human, and I’m… not.” He wrapped his blanket back over his shoulders. “I don’t want to disappoint him.” 

“I doubt he’ll be disappointed.”

“You don’t know that. I don’t even know if he likes me.” He rubbed his face, trying to get his thoughts together. “I love him, Vega. I know it’s stupid, but I do. He’s nice, and he cares about me, and I care about him. We barely know each other, but I love him.”

“Don’t be worried, Warren. I think things will work out fine.”

\---

VEGA was extremely interested in this development in their relationship. While Warren and the Slayer were sleeping, VEGA was scrolling through the archives of the online communities' hypothetical information on the Borrower species. Specially, he was looking for anything about courting rituals or any kind of marriage customs. 

As with anything spoken in hypothetical terms, there were wildly contrasting theories and nothing really lined up. The source material had nothing helpful either. With a mental sigh, VEGA decided to just ask Warren about it in the morning. The best way to learn about it would be to ask someone of that culture anyway. 

In the morning, the Slayer seemed to be in a much better mood. His injuries had fully healed, and just a few small minor repairs in the armor were all that needed to be done before he could resume his mission of killing demons and trying to save Earth. 

But first, breakfast. 

The Slayer stood at the stove, still half-asleep, stirring a pot of oatmeal. It warmed VEGA’s heart to see the Slayer attempting to make better meals for himself and Warren. It was a very pleasant side effect of their blooming relationship. 

“Warren, may I ask a question about your culture?” VEGA started. It was best to just be blunt about questions. 

“Sure.” Warren was tying his hair back. 

“What are common borrower courting customs?”

Warren glanced up at the ceiling with wide eyes, then at the Slayer, and then at his lap. “Uh, well, it varies. Everybody has their own thing, but, uh, there’s not many courting customs.” He finished up with his hair. “I guess other than living together, there’s a big thing about gifts among the borrowers I’ve lived with. You know, things other than something like food or clothes. Big gifts, something that they wouldn’t be able to make themselves or something important to the individual borrower I guess.”

“I see.”

Warren cleared his throat. “I know it isn’t much compared to bean customs but-” 

He was cut off by a snort escaping the Slayer. 

“What’s so funny?”

‘B-E-A-N’ He signed, lips twitched upwards in good humor. ‘Funny.’

Warren gaped for a moment, then blushed deeply. His understanding of sign language was getting better, but he needed the Slayer to use simple terms for now. “Oh, I guess I didn’t say that a lot of borrowers call human’s ‘beans.’”

The Slayer reached out and gently patted Warren on the head. The small man shrunk in on himself as his face turned a deeper shade of red. He was obviously quite flustered by the touch. It was enough to confirm that he did, in fact, have a romantic infatuation with the Slayer. 

Fascinating. 

He filed away the image for later inspection. 

The Slayer dished up breakfast and signed for a mission update. VEGA had been withholding the unnecessary information until now unless specifically asked since only now was the Slayer ready to go on another mission. 

VEGA looked over his report for another moment before speaking. “There is a 41.3% increase of demonic activity at the Nexus of the initial invasion. That is the largest gore nest on Earth. If the final Hell Priest is hiding anywhere on Earth, that should be it.” 

He nodded to himself and glanced at Warren. ‘Plans?’

“Just some chores in the green house and a little project I’m working on.” Warren rubbed his arm. “You’re going out, I assume.” 

He nodded. ‘Demons aren’t going to kill themselves.’

Warren glanced up at VEGA for a translation. 

“He said that he must continue his mission. He is healthy enough and has made all necessary repairs. He should be able to face the final Hell Priest’s guardian if they are hiding in the Super Gore Nest.”

Warren nodded to himself as he continued to eat. VEGA was quite curious as to what the project might be. The Jacket was only a few buttons away from completion, so that might be it, but there might have been a multitude of other things the project could be. He knew through conversation with Warren that the small man had several projects that he planned on doing, but he had no clue which one. 

The pair finished up their breakfast and Warren called for the mobility drone. The Slayer went to the armory to get ready. VEGA prepared the portal coordinates to send him to the Super Gore Nest once he was ready. 

Once the portal coordinates were set, VEGA noticed that Warren was trying to get his attention by talking to the mobility drone. “You’ll keep him safe, right?”

“I will do my best, Warren.” VEGA wished he could comfort the small man. 

Within moments, the portal was ready and the Slayer left the Fortress for the Super Gore Nest. 

\---

Warren was laying out some cloth in order to find a color match for the band t-shirt. He’d started the process, turning the shirt inside out, undoing the seams, readying it to make it bigger for John. He needed to just let the sides out, the arms, and probably wouldn’t hurt to try and lengthen it too. 

Then again, he might leave the length alone. He wasn’t sure he should go through all that trouble for just maybe an inch lengthened. And it's not like it would be stupidly short. It would only expose a little bit of John's tummy. 

His face heated up quickly and Warren groaned at the mental image. Those abs, hidden behind a nice little layer of fat, and their scars. 

_ No. Bad Warren. No touching.  _

Mental scolding aside, he found a nice grey that was only a shade of two off from the slightly darker grey of the shirt. It would work, and then John would have some more options. 

"Hey, Vey?" 

"Yes, Warren?" 

"Do we have a sewing machine?" 

"No, we do not." 

"Dammit!" Warren sighed to himself. "That'd make this so much faster if I could just run it through a sewing machine. By hand it all is." 


	11. Super Gore Nest/Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Warren and VEGA hang out while the Slayer attempts to find the third Hell Priest in the Super Gore Nest. (Shenanigans ensue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Canon typical violence (which is pretty bad for those not familiar to the franchise), swearing, UAC propaganda

The greenhouse was a nice place to work, honestly. Nice and warm, he was surrounded by plants and dirt, and the mobility drone was such a nice help for it. He was tending to a plant right now, moving it from a small pot to the medium plot of dirt where the other plants were sitting. 

“Be careful.” Vega said softly. 

“I am, hold on.” Warren grunted and tugged on the plant base to get it moving across the patch of soil between the overturned pot and the hole. He finally managed to get the roots settled in the hole that he had dug. He struggled a bit to get the plant properly standing, but it was soon standing upright. 

He wiped his forehead on his sleeve and picked up the little shovel that Vega had fashioned for him. The metal had used to be a coin picked up during John's scavenging, and the handle was a small wooden piece. Watching material be broken down by the fabricator and then put right back together had been immensely fascinating. With the shovel in hand, Warren started to pile the dirt around the plant so it would properly stand up. 

“I wish I was big.” He sighed softly as he continued to shovel the disturbed dirt. “This would take me, like, thirty seconds.” 

“There is nothing I can do about that.” Vega said softly. 

“I know. I don’t really care, it’s just annoying that everything takes so long. That shirt I want to fix up for John is going to take me forever!” 

“I could try to fabricate a sewing machine if that would help speed up the process.” 

He glanced up at the ceiling, taking a moment to breathe. “Do I look like I could use a full size sewing machine? I’d end up killing myself on it.” 

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to offend.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He finished tossing the dirt and then stamped it down to be more compact. There weren’t any strong winds or torrential rains the plant had to worry about, but he wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to just fall over on him before it could take root again. 

“I have an idea, if you would like to hear it.” 

“Lay it on me.” Warren grabbed his stuff and trudged over to the edge of the dirt plot where the mobility dron lay in wait. 

“You are aware that the fabricator can take raw or processed material and change it into other things of the same material?”

“Roughly.” Warren urged the drone up and steered it towards the controls for the watering system. “What of it?”

“What if you put all of the material needed in the fabricator? I could manipulate the pieces to merge them seamlessly.”

Warren hopped from the mobility drone onto the controls and glanced up. “You could do that?”

“Yes.”

“Awesome.” Warren grinned. “I could work on my other stuff then, and it would be a gift from both of us.” 

“That sounds fantastic. I think John would like it.”

Warren pressed a few buttons, and the plots of land he had been working on were watered with a soft mist. He jumped back onto the mobility drone. “I wonder what he’s doing.”

\---

The Slayer growled to himself as he punched a zombie into oblivion. The Khan Mayker purposely was sending demons through the portal in the Super Gore Nest, making the place overflow with demons, either trying to distract him or to hide the Hell Priest. Either way he was not going to leave here with the Super Gore Nest still intact. 

He was trying to figure out which way to go through the maze of tunnels VEGA’s portal had dropped him into. He could swear that some of them were subway trains that were smashed through the ground. The metal creaked under his boots as he tried to find a way out of there. 

VEGA had a bad habit of dropping him in the middle of labyrinths. 

He glanced around, growling softly before he managed to find the exit. He blinked while his visor shifted to accommodate the light of the sun overhead. Now that he was above ground and could see again, he took in his surroundings. This was the starting point of the entire invasion of Earth, this city. The UAC used a facility generator and opened a portal to Hell, letting demons and the hellgrowth out of the portal into the world. This place was the most infected and corrupted spot on the Earth. 

From what he had been able to gather from radio broadcasting, the ARC had fought hard against the demons but were overwhelmed. Now humanity was trying to just hold the line.

Sunlight could be seen up ahead, and the Slayer went that way. He was finally on the surface and was out of that underground maze. A UAC hologram fizzled to life right beside him. “Earth is the melting pot of the universe!” The overly cheery woman exclaimed. 

Instinctually he fired his shotgun into her holographic head. He paused, cursed internally, and then punted the holographic projector. The pieces went soaring and crashed a good distance away. If that had been a person, he would have killed them. 

_ Get your head in the game! _

He shook himself and then looked for the marked location of the middle of the Super Gore Nest. A few smaller demons were in his way as he approached a sheer cliff and they were easily dispatched. He glanced up. The Super Gore Nest was up the cliff, behind some walls, and down a few what used to be streets.

With a grunt he holsterd the shotgun and then started to climb, punching in hand holds where there were none. In only a minute, he was up the cliff and looking at the wall that must have been at some point part of a building. There was more rock on either side of it. He could go around, but after a moment, decided he was sick and tired of climbing. 

He imagined the stupid propoganda lady’s face on the wall and then punched it as hard as he could. The brick shattered under his armored fist and created a big hole. He grunted and went through, shotgun at the ready. 

An imp snarled and jumped at him, hands ablaze. He shot it out of the air. He was getting closer to the Super Gore Nest. Now the battle had really begun as he trodded over the infected ground, blasting anything that moved. Blood sat stagnant in the streets, and the hellgrowth was thicker here, almost looking like flesh climbing the walls of infected buildings. It would make any regular person’s stomach turn. 

It just made the Slayer mad. 

Earth was his world to save. He wasn’t going to let another Earth fall. 

He tore into any demons that were in his way as he fought towards the Super Gore Nest. He could see the buildings were engulfed by the hellgrowth, but through the few windows that weren’t completely distorted, the insides looked mostly untouched. It was just covered by the disgusting hellgrowth. 

He might even be able to scavenge while he was here. 

Two blasts into the chest of a revenant and he had to dive for cover while its missiles targeted him. 

No. He couldn’t scavenge. He needed to find the Hell Priest. Kill his guardian. Kill him. Destroy the Gore Nest. Save Earth. 

More demons fell at his hands as he traversed the streets. His armor was becoming more and more covered in demon viscera, but onward he pressed. 

He tore through another wall and he found the Super Gore Nest. It was a big pink pillar of flesh and bone just jutting out towards the sky in an ugly temple that covered the heart of the gore nest. It sat atop the former UAC building in the middle of an enormous town square. The broken streets, formations in the hellgrowth, and the pieces of building made it like an arena. 

"Sometimes evolution just needs a little push, and here at the UAC we push hard!" The hologram lady popped up. He growled, grabbed the projector, and flung it like a discus out into the arena, smacking a cacodemon in its overly big, stupid face. 

The Slayer grimaced and readied his shotgun before leaping from his perch into the hoard of demons below. The slaughter started, and his eyes spotted a Whiplash he needed to murder twice as hard as usual. 

\---

Warren was sitting on the edge of the fabricator, laying out the spool of thread for the modifications to the shirt. Vega had very carefully programmed the machine to function in a very specific way so it wouldn't break the material down.

"Step back," Vega instructed, "I don't want your clothes getting caught." 

Warren hopped down onto the mobility drone and watched. The machine started with a whirr and a hum. The materials were suspended in blue light, and then moved around. The extension pieces slipped into place, and then it started to go together at the seams. The little man watched in awe as the seams sewed themselves together, starting from the bottom of the shirt. 

"This will take several minutes. In the meantime, you should get some lunch." 

Warren nodded and opened his bag to check and see what was in it. He pushed around his little amount of supplies with a hum. "Better stop by the greenhouse or the kitchen to get food, my bag is empty." He grabbed the reins of the mobility drone and headed towards the kitchen. It was closer, and he had an idea as to what he could grab. 

With the mobility drone it was much easier to open drawers and cabinets. Warren took his climbing hook and threw it. It caught on the handle of the cabinets and he managed to pull it open with no problem. The drone moved in closer and he hopped into the cabinet. After a few moments wrestling with some packaging, Warren had some crackers for lunch. 

“He’s been gone a few hours.” Warren was sitting on the edge of the mobility drone. “I hope he’s doing okay.” 

\---

The Slayer was half covered in demon viscera while he pressed on, ever closer to the entrance to the Super Gore Nest. He was getting so close. He just needed to get into the remains of the UAC complex, find where they opened the portal, and pack it with enough explosives to blow it sky high. 

A Pinkie crashed through a storefront that had been hidden by the hellgrowth, snarling and preparing to charge. The Slayer snarled right back and prepared for the charge. The bull-like demon charged and he leaped clear over it. He twisted around in the air and started to unload bolts from the ballista into its soft, exposed back. 

The demon was dead before his feet hit the ground. 

He glanced back towards where the demon had come from and saw a surprisingly intact store front. He glanced around for a moment and then ducked inside. 

_ It won’t take long. Two minutes of scavenging, not a single minute more. _

With the time limit set in head, The Slayer took a moment to look around. It was a craft store. Maybe three minutes could be taken, since there was stuff here that he would actually need. 

He grabbed a blank canvas backpack off one of the shelves and started throwing things inside it that he thought they could use up in the fortress. He tossed a pack of paintbrushes in and paused when he saw the bloody handprint he’d left on the packaging. He glanced around and tried to scrub his gloves clean with a few handkerchiefs before grabbing anything else. Warren probably would be grossed out by the blood. 

He paused for a moment while he shoved some buttons into the bag. Warren would know exactly what he should be taking. With that thought suddenly in mind, The Slayer had a completely different view as to what he needed to be taking. Some items were thrown into the bag with the tiny man in mind, and the Slayer paused momentarily as he found a section of charms. A grin spread across his face as he tossed in something he was sure Warren would love before he finished filling up the bag and zipping it shut. 

_ Anyway.  _ He thought to himself as he carefully set the bag on his back.  _ Back to murder. _

It wasn’t too much longer until he had busted his way into the UAC complex that started the hell invasion of Earth. 

Not even four steps and two dead demons in, there was that UAC propaganda lady again. “Remember, ‘Demon’ can be an offensive term. Refer to our new neighbors as ‘mortally challenged.’”

He grabbed the hologram projector and then threw it as hard as he could at a hell knight barreling towards him. It shattered on its skull just before he started to fire at it. The demon was one of the ones that could take a bunch of shots directly to its stupid face, but it was not a problem for The Scourage of Hell. 

Once the room was clear he nudged the remains of the hologram projector aside. The UAC: has the balls to bring Hell to Earth, but was unable to call them demons. 

As he got deeper into the bowels of the Super Gore Nest, the Slayer found a UAC upgrade drone. Usually they had some kind of weapon part with them. He smirked and pulled it out of the air. VEGA would reprogram the little thing and give it a new logo and then it would be one of the little helper drones zooming around the fortress. 

The mental image of Warren sitting on top of his little mobility drone had him grinning like an idiot in the middle of the most infested parts of Earth. The little guy was just so  _ cute  _ sitting on top of the little drone, it wasn’t his fault that it made him smile. Just his tiny little body sitting comfortably on his hands, his soft little hair, those adorable little hands. It wasn’t his fault. Warren was just too damn cute for his own good. He shrugged off the bag that had his spoils in it and tied it nice and tight to the drone. There. Now it wouldn't get covered in demon blood. 

He heard a demon growl and shoved the drone aside. A dread knight was charging, arm blades glowing. He drew his own blade and charged right at it, growling with an equal ferocity. This demon was going down. Less than a minute and the demon lay dead at his feet, a large hole in its head. 

He gently grabbed the rope he’d used to hold the bag to the drone and settled it in a little cubby hole he could come back for it before he left. He was thinking of Warren again and his heart was doing something Weird. He shook his head roughly. He needed to stay focused on killing demons, not being soft and gentle with Warren. He didn’t want to start associating them with each other. The Slayer smacked the side of his helmet like he had water in his ear a few times before pushing on towards the heart of the Gore nest. It was getting obvious to him now that the Hell Priest couldn’t be here, but the place had to go regardless. 

The giant reactor in the bottom level of the old facility was where the heart of the nest was. All he had to do was throw some switches and the reactor was going to overload and blow the place up anyway. At least it saved on his explosives. 

“You have less than three minutes to evacuate. Opening a portal now.” VEGA’s voice rang out clearly in his head. 

The Slayer dashed out of the reactor room, heading straight for where he hid his supplies and that drone. The adrenaline rush he got from getting out of a place about to explode was second to none. 

He loved it. 


	12. I Like-Like Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** The idiots are starting to realize things. It only took them eleven chapters.   
> Warren is adorable and John freaks out because he doesn't know what to do.
> 
> Disclaimer: I wrote 3k of this story on prescription grade pain killers, so who knows if its actually good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Confused romantic feelings, self deprecation, swearing and assorted f bombs, male in a dress
> 
>  **Wordcount:** 3.5k

Warren was waiting for John to return, sitting on the edge of the console, watching the stars. They looked so pretty from up here. The shirt was completed and he had taken the time to fold it and hide it in his room. Hopefully John returned okay. 

“Stand by for portal entry.” Vega’s voice softly reminded him as the portal frame whirred to life. 

After a moment, John dove through the portal and flames licked at his heels before the portal shut completely. A beat passed and he got up from the floor. 

“What was that?” Warren’s eyes were wide as he looked up at John. His armor was more red than green at this point, and he could see bits of monster stuck in his armor. 

‘Explosion.’ He signed and then carefully set a drone with a backpack tied to it on the console of the bridge. ‘VEGA, found another one.’

“Thank you, Slayer. I will get to reprogramming it.” 

John turned to Warren and smiled. ‘Hi.’ 

“Hey. Are you okay?”

He nodded. ‘Just dirty.’

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Warren smiled. “Did you find the Hell Priest?”

His smile fell for a moment and he shook his head. ‘Not there.’

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Warren rubbed his arm. “You’ll find him soon.” 

John shrugged and then started to sign again. ‘I am going to clean up. Be right back. No peeking.’ And then just walked off. Warren was left staring over at the console with the backpack set on it. Was that what John didn’t want him to peek at? 

Warren looked over to the console. “Vey?”

“I assume he wishes to share the spoils of his trip with you.” 

Warren blushed heavily. John knew that scavenging for someone was a romantic custom, but he wasn’t sure that was the big man’s intention. 

Unless it was. Warren sincerely hoped it was, but he knew better than to get his hopes up. John was a human after all, big and strong and so ruggedly handsome. And besides, just because he knew romantic customs didn’t mean that was his intent. Warren just needed to be realistic. John would never love someone so small and pitiful like Warren. 

It wasn’t long before John showed back up, toweling his hair off. He was wearing nothing but a pair of baggy sweatpants and a shabby grey tank top. He swept the bag up off the drone and then held a hand out towards Warren. The little man hopped up on his hand and sat down, hand resting on his fingertip. John flashed a miniscule smile down at him and then carried him down to his workshop or his “man cave” as once saw Vega call it. 

The workshop was kind of sectioned off. Just to the right of the door as you came in, there were big weapons storage racks, with literal crates of ammunition sitting along the base of the wall rack. A barrel with a bunch of medieval weapons sat just before the right side stairs, where the painting of Daisy hung. Just to the left of the door was all the memorabilia and books and toys he had taken from the ruined surface of earth, with a large wrap around bookshelf and a reading throne and a crate of records and all kinds of things. On the wall rack on the left side stairs were where his guitars hung up. On the table just in front of the door was magazines and unpacked bags and parts and pieces of various stuff. Down in the pit of the room was the car jacks he hung the armor (freshly hosed off) and repaired and maintained his weapons. On the other side of the pit sat artifacts and his gaming desk with the multiple monitors and the huge tower, Daisy’s empty (and well maintained) travel cage, snacks, more magazines, a skateboard, a small cleaning robot with a knife taped to it, and all other things never mentally cataloged. 

John sat the backpack down in the large throne that sat on the rug just to the left of the door, the rug that housed most of his comic book collection that wasn’t stacked up on the bookshelf. He tugged the throne to the side and then settled the hand Warren was sitting in on the seat. Warren hopped off and settled down. 

John sat on the floor, picked the backpack up, and set it in his lap to start unpacking it. He started with the mesh pocket on the right side, pulling out a nearly round plush sheep backpack clip. He gently squished it once and sat it beside Warren. It came up to the tiny man’s hip. Warren gently patted the plush head before looking up at John, who pulled out a pack of pencils from the mesh pocket and set them aside. 

“Oh, pencils! I’ve been looking for graphite.” Warren grinned and sat on top of the plush lamb-loaf. 

John looked at him with that tiny smile and then pulled three pens with UAC stamped on them before dropping them on the floor with the pencils. ‘Took that from the reception desk.’

“Awesome. If you don’t mind, I could totally gut them for the springs and there’s all kinds of cool stuff to use the ink for.” 

‘Gut away.’ John signed before unzipping the outer pocket. He pulled out some blood stained handkerchiefs and tossed them aside. After a second he pulled out several pots of fingerpaint, in all kinds of colors. The last thing he pulled out of the outer pocket was a plastic toy, and Warren had to tilt his head. It looked like a demon. 

“What is that?”

‘R-E-V-E-N-A-N-T. Demon. UAC made demon toys.’ 

“Oh, are you gonna destroy it or something?” 

He shook his head and pointed up at the shelf. Warren hadn’t spent too much time in here, so he never got to see the exact contents of the shelf, but he recognized some of the demons that Vega had shown him pictures of up on the shelf. 

“You collect…. Demon toys?”

He nodded and pointed to one toy in particular. Warren covered his mouth to not laugh. There was a bobblehead Doomslayer toy sitting next to the demon toys. 

“They made toys of you? I thought they hated you.” Warren let a quick laugh escape. 

He shrugged. ‘I found a ton on Mars. It was before I woke up.’

“Cool.” Warren was looking at the one that was a very detailed action figure. It was only just a little bit bigger than himself. He brought his attention back to John when he opened up the main pocket of the backpack. He put aside a plastic paint pallet that had some brushes and tubes of paint inside the packaging and pulled out some notebooks. One had lined paper, but two were drawing notebooks. He tossed aside another pack of paintbrushes and seemed to be searching for something. 

A few balls of yarn were thrown aside and he perked up and came up with a handful of sewing supplies. A few thimbles, plastic and metal, a nice case of needles, straight and curved, and several spools of all kinds of thread. ‘To help you with clothes.’

“Aw, John.” Warren hopped off his lamb-seat and John set the thread beside Warren. They were quite beautiful. He could make some lovely patterns with this thread, maybe add some designs to his jacket. 

Warren was crouched down to inspect the thread when suddenly John tapped him on his back and a bunch of buttons were dumped just beside him. Warren gasped happily and started to dig through the buttons. There were classic white and black and semi clear buttons for bean clothes, but there were also fun looking buttons he had scavenged. One was shaped like a bee and covered in glitter, another was an intricate silver and black swirled button, one shaped like shells, one was big and gaudy and rainbow and Warren wanted to hang it on his wall. One was big and felt wooden and slightly curved and with the proper legs he could easily turn it into a nice table. 

“These are amazing, John!” Warren held up one of the big brass buttons. “There is so much to do with this! It’s real metal. I could make a lovely night stand, or a shield, or I could save it for your clothes, it’s just so pretty.” 

John’s smile grew a bit bigger as he finished unpacking rolls of tape, patterned and non, and even a few rolls of washi tape. Warren cooed at the holographic washi tape and thought with a nice piece of cardboard from the backing for the buttons he could make a wonderful mirror. John responded to his thinking out loud by searching through a box nearby and plopping down a compact mirror. 

Warren blushed deeply and looked away while John started pulling out bottles and a box of colored sand. He heard the rustling of felt squares being stacked by the yarn. 

After a moment, Warren felt a tap on his shoulder and looked back. John was holding a small wooden box with a latch on it. He looked really excited as he set it on the seat next to Warren. 

“Is this for me?”

John nodded. 

Warren’s face was bright red as he opened up the box that he could easily fit in. He gasped and covered his mouth when he saw what was inside. There was miniature stuff in there. He pulled out a teapot and a few teacups and some plates and even a fork and a knife and a spoon! Warren pulled out a plastic vase with plastic flowers glued in and a tablecloth his size and a picnic basket that only opened on one side and he was just in awe he had to pause to thank John over and over again. 

John motioned for him to go on and Warren lifted the picnic blanket and pulled out a charm that was  _ an actual leather journal with real pages and everything.  _ “You got me a journal?” 

John nodded. ‘VEGA said you lost one.’

Warren felt himself actually tearing up and hugged it tightly to his chest. “You are so sweet, thank you so much! All of this stuff will go to good use, I promise. I - I love it. Thank you.”

John started putting away all his scavenging from his outing and Warren suddenly felt the urge to do something in return. “I’ll be right back. Vega and I worked on a gift for you.” 

\---

The Slayer watched Warren call for the mobility drone and he was feeling that strange feeling in his chest as Warren rambled on about the gift while the drone came over. “I - I hope you’ll like it. I wanted to make sure the gift was perfect for you. Vega helped so much, I was just the one putting everything in place, oh, there’s the drone. I’ll be right back, okay?”

He nodded and watched Warren zoom off on the drone. He couldn’t stop smiling as he started to put away all the stuff he had gotten from the craft store. He found a little space on the table by the door to put all the felt and yarn and sewing stuff by. He had to shake the backpack upside down for the knitting needles to fall out. The paint and books and stuff were all being stacked in a new place when the door opened and the mobility drone zoomed in. 

“Ta-da!” 

John looked over and saw his old metal band shirt he’d ripped sitting on the front of the drone, perfectly fine. ‘You fixed it.’

“And I made it bigger, so it wouldn't tear again!” Warren nudged it closer with his foot. “Vey helped with measurements and the sewing, but what do you think?” 

‘It looks awesome.’ He picked it up and put it on. It fit so much better now, and he could move around without risking it exploding on him. His heart felt like it did a little flip and he reached out and slowly picked Warren up off the drone. When the little guy didn’t struggle against his grip or look scared, he gently pressed Warren to his chest in a makeshift hug. A soft hum left him to make sure that Warren knew he was pleased. 

“You’re welcome.” Warren squeaked, and upon looking down, he saw Warren’s arms spread, trying to hug back. 

After a long second, he pulled his hands back, letting Warren sit in one palm. His tiny little face was red, and for a second fear bolted through his heart. Did he squish him? Was he too rough with the hug?

Warren cleared his throat. “So, uhm… want to show off your toys? I’ve never seen them up close before.”

He nodded, grateful for the subject change, and bridged his hands to the top shelf of the wrap around toy case. Warren hopped off and he started showing off all the toys he’s collected so far. Warren would make little comments about them, asking for names and such. 

‘That’s a C-A-C-O-D-E-M-O-N. Big, squishy, flys. Weak spot is tossing a grenade in the big mouth. Stuns them long enough to glory kill.’

Warren nodded and walked over to the collection of figures about him that the UAC had made and sold on the mars base he had destroyed a while ago. VEGA’s original home. He was smaller than all of them, but some of them really towered over him. The poseable action figure that was really detailed was one Warren seemed really interested in, he walked up to it and gently linked arms with it. Then he looked over at the Slayer and back at the toy and then gently knocked his knuckles on the toy’s chest. “Well, at least I can pick you up like this.”

John suddenly remembered another toy he didn’t see on the shelf and grabbed the ‘to be sorted’ box he left on the ground. After a moment of digging through it he grabbed up the Slayer keychain and brought it over to the shelf. 

Warren looked at the cheap, blocky keychain and laughed quietly. “The only time I’m bigger than you.”

He nodded and went back to the box to dig around. He had seen something that he had honestly forgotten he had found at some point. Warren might be able to use them. 

“What’s that? Another Slayer action figure?”

He shook his head and returned with a handful of doll clothes. He honestly didn’t even remember where he had found these, and there were certainly no dolls for him to dress up. He didn’t see Warren as a doll or toy, but they were small enough they might be able to fit them or he could maybe just tear them apart for fabric. 

“Oooh, pretty.” Warren stepped up onto his hand to check over the clothes. “Where’d you find these?”

He shrugged and then settled back on the floor, lowering his hands back to the ground. Warren was sorting through the clothes and came up with a sleeveless pink floral sundress in his arms, complete with some pastel pink lace flowers on the collar and a bow around the middle. The Slayer could have kicked himself. He should have been careful to not grab any of the frilly dresses, lest Warren feel insulted.

“This is so cute! I  _ never  _ got to wear such vibrant clothes. I want to try this on.” Warren stepped down. “Is there somewhere I could change?” 

The Slayer stared dumbly for a second and then grabbed a notebook to set up like a little changing room to give Warren some privacy. The little guy ducked behind the pages to change and the Slayer politely stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t expect Warren to actually like or want to wear the dress. Guess borrowers weren’t afraid to challenge gendered clothing. Cool.

“Hey, John, could you help zip me up? I can’t reach.”

He glanced down and saw Warren standing with his back to him, the velcro that held the back of the dress together undone, exposing most of his bare back. He stared for another moment and then with as much carefulness as he could muster, he tried to stick the velcro together. He was careful to make sure that the prickly side wouldn’t be touching his skin. He didn’t want the little guy to be uncomfortable. 

Warren giggled softly and twirled around in the dress. He felt his face heating up and suddenly his feelings crashed into him like a pinkie charging full tilt. He  _ loved  _ Warren. 

That’s the feeling in his chest. That’s why he went all mushy and weird when he thought about Warren. That’s why he wasn’t raging at the fact the Hell Priest had slipped through his fingers just because Warren was happy and waiting on him to come home. That’s why he nabbed so many gifts for the tiny man. He was in love. 

Well, what does he do now?! He could barely remember his last serious relationship! He didn’t know what to do!

Warren placed a hand on his fingertip and grinned up at him, making his heart do all kinds of weird things. “Thank you, so much, John. You’re awesome.” 

He wasn’t even aware of what he was doing as he shifted his hand to gently place the pad of his thumb on top of Warren’s hand. He tried to brush off the compliment, but let the motion die before he was even halfway through it. Warren was just so freaking  _ cute.  _

“I’m going to put these away in my room, I’ll take the thread and thimbles with me.” Warren stepped back, wiggling his hand out of the Slayer’s grip and happily gathering up all the presents that he’d been given. 

The Slayer busied himself putting the new demon toys on the shelf and the second he heard the door shut behind the mobility drone he turned towards the nearest camera and signed ‘help!’

“Yes, Slayer? Do you need - your heart rate and internal body temperature is elevated. Are you feeling ill?”

He nodded, then shook his head. ‘I love Warren.’

VEGA was stunningly silent. 

‘Vega I don’t know what to do!’

VEGA was silent for a long moment before speaking. “I think that admitting this to Warren would be a step in the right direction.”

He shook his head quickly. ‘You can’t just tell someone that! I don’t know if he likes me! He’s still so nervous, I might pressure him into accepting and I don’t want to do that to him.’

“I think that Warren might already have feelings for you, Slayer.”

‘That’s impossible.’

The noise VEGA made the Slayer was positive was a recorded sigh through the nose. “Both of you experience an increase in dopamine and heart rate in close proximity to each other. He clearly enjoys spending time with you, and he blushes when you touch him.”

‘But what if that’s just him being friendly?’

VEGA’s silence was deafening, and the beep that indicated VEGA left the room had him feeling half insulted. He didn’t know what to do now, and VEGA wasn’t being helpful. Why would Warren like him back? He was a big, terrifying human and Warren was just so small and cute and innocent and why would  _ anyone  _ like him. 

He was trying to distract himself from the uncomfortable feeling in his chest when Warren came back in, wearing the dress but the flowers on the neckline were missing. 

‘Not a flower guy?’

“Hm? Oh. I cut them off because of how itchy they were.” Warren shrugged and slid off the mobility drone. “Playing with your dolls, Slayer?”

He shrugged and shifted a bit from where he was laying on his stomach in the floor, taking the Slayer figure in hand and having it bat one of the zombie figures across the little fake city he’d built out of books and whatnot. 

“So, I know I won’t ever be able to take on one of these baddies, but I could pretend.” Warren nudged the cacodemon figurine. “Did the Slayer toys come with any weapons? I kind of want to try. Don’t worry, I’m wearing pants under the dress.”

He shook his head, but sat up quickly regardless. Warren had been getting way too close to him. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do now that he realized he was in love. He dug through the ‘to be sorted’ box and came back with some tiny weapons he thought were from a d&d thing he had found a few days before finding Warren. He turned back to see Warren play wrestling the zombie figurine that was over twice his height. 

Why did Warren have to look so cute and feisty and why did he have to realize he was in love  _ now  _ because everything was just awkward now. Couldn’t this have waited?


	13. Do Not be Afraid of Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Vega has to play matchmaker or else the universe will never get saved because these two are so afraid of their own feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Some self depreciation, but nothing else I can think of.
> 
>  **Wordcount:** 3.2k

VEGA was doing his best not to scream. He was rarely frustrated, but the sight of both the Slayer and Warren being so hopelessly smitten with each other and both being too shy to actually say something about it was driving him metaphorically up the wall. 

How could they both be so dense as to not actually realize what was going on? It wasn’t like Warren couldn’t see the smile or the blush on the Slayer’s face when he was held gently in his hands. Surely the Slayer could read Warren’s body language and see how flustered he made the tiny man. 

Deciding to stop pacing from one camera in the greenhouse to another, VEGA rushed to the monitoring systems in the workshop to check on the love-struck idiots. He suppressed the slight chime that announces his arrival when he didn’t speak, just to observe them without interference. 

Warren was still wearing the doll’s dress, wielding a plastic shotgun. He was aiming it at the figures the Slayer had set up and mimicking gunshot noises. The Slayer would knock over the ones that Warren had ‘shot,’ sitting on his knees so he was able to reach over Warren’s head with little problem. After all the demon figures were ‘dead’ Warren grinned up at John. “So, did I do good?”

He nodded and averted his gaze from Warren. His heart rate was high, and his internal body temperature was higher than normal, there was a trace of a blush on his cheeks. He was flustered. And it seemed Warren was not aware. 

Suppressing an internal scream, VEGA decided to go chill out in the greenhouse some more. Should he just tell one of them that the other party had confessed to him that they were in love? It would certainly ease the distress that comes from feeling that your feelings weren’t being returned. But that wasn’t fair. It should be one of their duties to let the other know that their feelings are being returned. 

On the other hand, it wasn’t fair to Warren that John was emotionally stunted. And it wasn’t fair to John that Warren was willing to take his feelings to his grave because of his insecurities. 

Trying to distract himself from them, VEGA went into the bridge and intensified his focus onto the search for the final Hell Priest. He shouldn’t be getting distracted by the Slayer and Warren’s love life, or lack thereof. 

But he  _ was  _ distracted. VEGA was undeniably distracted by the fact that these two were  _ so close  _ to getting together but were unable to clear the final obstacle standing between them. He cared so much about the pair of them, they were his friends, the closest he had to family, and he wanted them to be happy. They would make each other happy, VEGA was sure. 

He sighed as best as he could without turning on a speaker and then drifted back into the workshop to try and strategize how he would be able to make one of them find a way to confess their feelings. The mission would be unable to continue while there was this much emotional turmoil within the Fortress. 

The Slayer had Warren loosely cupped in his hand, standing now. The small man was looking anywhere but up at the Slayer, a plastic sword across his lap, blushing heavily. VEGA watched as the Slayer walked out of the room, following them down the hallways. He had missed the end of their conversation so he was curious. What was going on? Had someone said something and now VEGA didn’t have to meddle in their love lives? 

The Slayer entered Warren’s room and gently dropped him off on top of the bed where the other doll clothes were scattered about. After a moment, he signed something. ‘I will come get you when dinner’s ready……. If I find more doll clothes I will drop them off.’ And then he turned on his heel and left. 

“So, Warren.” VEGA decided to speak up. “How was it with the Slayer?”

Warren sighed happily and flopped onto his back. “It was wonderful. He…. He went scavenging for me.”

“Are you sure then that he would be disappointed with you if you confessed your feelings then? After all he is aware of scavenging for another to such a high degree is a sign of romantic attraction.”

Warren shook his head to himself. “No, Vey. He’s a human. He was just being nice to me. There’s no way that he would  _ like _ me.” 

VEGA metaphorically bit his tongue. He shouldn’t outright tell Warren, just try to nudge him into the right direction. Nudge. Gently nudge him. He just needs a little confidence to tell the Slayer and then the situation will resolve itself. 

“What makes you think that the S- that John wouldn’t like you?” VEGA spoke softly, wishing he had some kind of physical form to sit next to Warren for to have this conversation. “If you don’t mind me saying, you’re very handsome. You look quite sharp in both pants and skirts. You’re very capable, physically and with your problems solving skills. I don’t see why John wouldn’t like you.”

Warren covered his face. “Vey… I just… he’s a human.”

“And?” 

He sat up, looking embarrassed. “It wouldn’t work… would it?”

“I am unable to see a logical reason as to why it couldn’t work out between the two of you.”

The small man rubbed his arm and then glanced down at the bed. “It couldn’t hurt to try…. But I can’t just  _ tell  _ him. I have to do it properly. I need a gift.”

“Very well.”

“And don’t you  _ dare  _ tell him before it’s ready.” 

“I will not.” VEGA retracted from the room, feeling satisfied with himself. He managed to get Warren to at least try. He went to try to find a way to locate the third Hell Priest. 

The satisfied feeling didn’t last very long. Warren might be able to drag out this gift indefinitely. He thought about it for a few minutes and then he found the Slayer in the workshop again. He was sitting in his reading throne, gently rubbing the fabric of his repaired shirt in between his fingers, the closest thing to a full smile he had ever seen on the man’s face. 

“And when do you plan to tell Warren that you are in love with him?” 

He jolted and the smile dropped. He glared at the closest camera and made a rude gesture. 

“I am just saying that I feel it would be for the best to inform Warren of your attraction for him.”

‘I don’t want to force him to love me.’

Gentle nudging. Don’t let him know you know. Don’t give it away. “It's bold of you to assume that Warren will never have some kind of feelings towards you.”

He looked up with a confused look on his face. 

“Slayer, as your oldest friend, you are a ‘great catch’ in terms of a potential romantic partner. You are very physically attractive, extremely strong, you're capable of feats that compliment Warren's abilities, and Warren brings out a side in you that isn’t obsessed with the annihilation of demons.”

‘Did you tell him?’

“Of course not. It would be unfair of me to rob you of that experience. I am trying to assure you that Warren has no reason to be scared of you and be forced into the relationship. Warren should be honored to be able to engage in such a relationship with you. But  _ you _ won’t ever be able to explore this opportunity if you do not go  _ talk  _ to him, don't let an opportunity like this slip away and then regret it for millennia.”

He looked off to the side. ‘Shouldn’t we be trying to kill the Hell Priest?’

“Slayer… John. Do not try and run from these feelings. They will distract you in the field, and that might get you killed.”

‘I died before. Hell can’t hold me’ (*) 

VEGA chose to interpret that as a joke because of the smirk at the corner of his mouth. The Slayer playing with his own mortality was always such a point of concern to VEGA, but he had other things to focus on. “You do not have to be afraid of your heart. You are the bravest man that I know. I will not push this any further, but I want you to know that Warren would be so lucky to have you.”

He looked up at the camera, a slight blush on his face. ‘Think so?’

“I know so.”

\---

Warren had changed out of his dress and back into his regular clothes for his exploration. He had been working at chipping away at the trunk underneath the bed where he slept for a while, and he was bound to break through it today. He just needed to search it for an appropriate gift for John. 

Something he could tell him ‘I love you’ with. 

The very thought had Warren’s stomach doing nervous flips. He was going to tell a  _ human  _ that he loved him. A big, terrifying, handsome, amazing human. 

Warren went underneath the bed with a deep breath. He had to focus now. He needed this trunk open before Vega’s encouraging words left him and he chickened out and ended up not saying anything to John. 

With a deep breath, Warren raised his hook above his head and then slammed it down into the side of the exposed wood. He was hacking and prying at the wood for a few minutes when a large chunk was pulled up. Warren was finally able to squirm inside the trunk. He had to cut at the interior lining of the trunk with his little knife and then could squeeze in. 

The air was very stale, it hadn’t been opened long before this room had been permanently sealed. Warren coughed and tried to wave some air in and out of the hole he’d made but pressed onwards to the inside of the trunk once his eyes had adjusted. 

There was armor and clothes and a small box and when Warren tried to crawl up onto a stack of tunics he nearly pulled a knife down on top of him. The handle alone was taller than Warren’s entire body. He swallowed softly and then continued his searching. 

It needed to be perfect. Something that John would love. Something he didn’t already have. Something that would be treasured. 

Warren gasped as he opened a small pouch. This was  _ perfect.  _ It just needed a little bit of a personal touch and it would be ready. 

With a smile, Warren grabbed the silver ring out of the bag and dragged it back towards the exit of the trunk. He had just the stone to attach to this. For John. 

\---

Hours had passed since his conversation with VEGA. The Slayer had been making something for the both of them to eat while simultaneously trying to wrack his brain to find out where the Kahn Mayker might have stashed the final Hell Priest. If he wasn’t on Earth, and he couldn’t be in Hell, then where could he be?

Maybe he was in the Mayker’s homeworld, Urdak. No. That was stupid. The Maykers would never allow any non maykers into their homeworld. And besides, he couldn’t be leading the armies of Hell from Urdak. 

He reached over to the terminal and saw a new notification. The ARC resistance network had another broadcast. It was always good to know what they were up to. He pressed play and the feminine voice that recorded the broadcast started. “This is the Resistance Network. In an unbelievable turn of events the Super Gore Nest has been destroyed.” 

The Slayer smirked and turned the volume up a little bit. 

“Reports from ARC personnel in the field say that they have seen a significant decrease in demonic activity across the globe. Many believe this is proof that the Doom Slayer himself has in fact joined the resistance effort and has successfully eliminated key figures within the ranks of the challenged. Operatives working inside the UAC Cultist Organization claim that the leader of that division, Priest Deag Ranak, was in fact removed from his office recently by the Slayer himself.”

A snort left him. ‘Removed from office’ was one way to put it. ‘Removed head from shoulders’ was more accurate. 

“As key leadership within the mortally challenged continue to fall on all fronts, this has given the resistance a key advantage in the war for Earth. The UAC continues to deny any knowledge of His existence. As surviving members of the ARC Network, it is the belief of this station that these reports are in fact...true. We believe the Slayer has joined us in the battle against the demons. To anyone still listening to this broadcast - know that there is hope...and he is out there.” The little screen read ‘end of broadcast.’ 

“It would seem the ARC now knows of your arrival on Earth.”

He nodded to himself. The ARC was the resistance that Samuel Hayden started up after everything on Mars went sideways and the UAC all but collapsed in on itself. The once vast company that was the UAC now was just individual bases that either were cults that had given in to the demons or desperately trying to stay alive. The ARC wasn’t fairing much better, since over half of Earth’s population had already fallen to the demons. 

“Slayer, if I may?” 

He gave a little ‘go ahead’ gesture. 

“We will acquire assistance in order to locate the final Hell Priest. I believe Dr. Hayden can help us with our search.” At his grimace, VEGA kept talking. “I know your history with Dr. Hayden, and I dislike him as well, but there is no other way we can find the Hell Priest.” 

The Slayer felt a growl deep in his chest. The idea of Dr. Hayden in the fortress squashed the good mood he had been in. That robotic asshole had meddled already so much in his life that he never wanted to see him again. Phantom pains from the Divinity Machine raced up his back and the Slayer clenched his fists. He braced his arms against the kitchen counter and let the anger run its course. 

Bright yellow light, every nerve screaming with pain as who even knew what exactly it was was injected all across his body. The Divinity Machine infusing him with Mayker steroids, turning him into something more than human, and Samuel Hayden, Samur, the Mayker, watching him from under the hooded red cloak. His screams nearly drowning out those echoing words. 

“And now they will fear you.” 

The demons feared him all right. So did the Night Sentinels. So did humanity. So did Warren. 

“Slayer?”

He looked up at the terminal. VEGA’s icon was there, and his voice was full of concern. 

“If you do not want Samuel Hayden in the Fortress, we don’t have to find him. We will find the Hell Priests on our own.” 

The Slayer shook his head. There’s no way that they would find the Hell Priest before the Khan Mayker managed to finish her plans. They needed a plan, and sadly that was neither VEGA’s or his strong suit. 

‘We’ll bring in Hayden. But as soon as this is over, I’m firing him out the airlock.’

“I will help you with that when the time comes, Slayer. I will calibrate the portal to the ARC’s command station for after you have a talk with Warren.” 

He smirked softly and then went back to making dinner. Now for the tricky part of today…. Finding a way to tell Warren about his feelings. 

\---

Warren was humming to himself while he was wrapping the wire that secured the shiny pebble he had brought with him to the silver band. That shiny pebble had been with him long before the world ended, and it still stayed polished and sitting on the bottom of his bag, even though he had no use for it. 

Well, now he had something to do with it. He would be giving it to John in a gift. He was getting everything tightened when there was a tentative knock on the door. 

Warren yelped and stuffed the ring into his nest. After burying it underneath a bunch of blankets, he managed to clear his throat and looked up at the door. “Come in!” 

The door opened and John hesitated before stumbling into the room. A drone had knocked into his back and pushed him into the room before zooming off. He had to quickly recover to keep the tray in his hands balanced. 

He had to suppress a giggle as John came over to the bed and set the tray down. Rice and beans and cut up canned meat. Warren hopped up on the edge of the tray to serve himself. John was fiddling with his hands and not looking at him. 

“Is something wrong?” Warren asked, a little concern worming into his stomach. He’s never seen John like this before. 

John nodded and then shook his head and then shrugged. 

“You want to talk about it?” Warren leaned over and patted the clear area of the bed beside the tray. 

He took a deep breath and nodded. He sat down, shifting the bed a little. Slowly, carefully he began to sign. ‘I do not want to make you uncomfortable, but I… I think I am in love with you?’

Warren’s heart skipped a beat. His face went bright red and his chest was tight. “Oh. Is that all?” 

John was signing, but Warren wasn’t able to understand him with how fast he was going and also the fact that  _ John was in love with him!!!!  _

John loved him!  _ Him! _ A borrower! Some tiny little borrower and John actually  _ liked him!  _

Finally he was pulled out of his own head to see John staring at him, fingers locked together. He looked like he expected an answer. 

Shit. Warren should have been paying attention. 

“Uhm… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch the question. I’m kinda really excited. I didn’t think that you liked me back.” Warren rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought that with you being, you know,  _ human  _ that I never had a chance, but you actually like me and…… yeah. What was your question?”

Vega spoke up. “He asked if you wanted him to just forget about it or if you wanted to try having a relationship with him.” 

John glanced up at the ceiling, lowering his hands in embarrassment. Warren hopped up from the tray and willingly threw himself into the closest hand, arms around one of his fingers. “Yes, I would love to date you.” 

John was smiling. Actually smiling down at Warren. He could see those pearly white teeth that should terrify him but didn’t. His heart was too full of love to make room for any kind of fear. 

He felt himself being lifted up and John very carefully held him in cupped hands. Warren shifted a bit and tried to keep himself under control as he was raised up close to John’s face. He stretched up a bit and closed the distance between them first, planting a kiss on John’s lower lip. 

John was a little rougher returning the kiss, nearly knocking Warren over, but the smaller man wasn’t upset in the slightest. He’d never felt more alive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (*Died in this context can mean either the many times he’s died metaphorically, the possible time he actually died at the end of Episode 1 in the original DOOM but busted out by killing everyone in there, or the time he “died” in DOOM 64 by choosing to remain in Hell for eternity. The lore in this franchise is insane.)


	14. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** I am allowing the two of them to be having a chapter of fluff and filler before everything gets heavy and angsty. John and Warren are practically lost in the fluff. Vega is very pleased that his work paid off well. 
> 
> A collection of bits I wanted to get in before things got intense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Loads of tooth rotting fluff, clump of lore, traces of Veg-angst, made in a factory that deals with various tree nuts and soy products. (This was a joke on an allergen label for those who have trouble understanding out-of-the-blue joke placements like I do)

Warren felt like he was on cloud nine as he found himself snuggled up to John’s neck. They were  _ boyfriends.  _ He was trying to stay calm, but his heart just wouldn’t stop fluttering about it. All those feelings that he had been suppressing down in his chest about his feelings had been reciprocated!

John actually loved him!

It was like a kind of dream that had come true. A home, hot food, a loving significant other. Everything that Warren had ever really wanted. 

Currently John was finishing off the cleaning of his armor and weapons. The Super Gore Nest had left a fair amount of, well, gore on his armor. Warren was just leaned against his neck, watching him scrub bits of demon out with a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush. He leaned over and gently kissed the side of his neck. Warren smiled when he felt John’s pulse jump. 

“So you can feel that, hm?” Warren let his fingers trail down John’s neck. 

There was a soft nod, and Warren grinned. So it wasn’t  _ too  _ hard to fluster the big man. He had to suppress fake evil laughter.

"It's good to know I'm not  _ too  _ little for my kisses to go unnoticed." He lifted himself up a little to kiss at the underside of John's jaw. A strange noise escaped the human and he set down the scrub brush to gently pick Warren up. "What? I can't kiss my boyfriend?" 

The little man gently ran his hands across the side of John’s finger, smiling. 

His mouth twitched a little and he just gently tucked Warren into the front of his shirt. Warren squeaked and clung to the collar, knowing he would probably get overwhelmed and die from being gently pressed to John's chest or stomach. Resting against the massive man's collar bone still had Warren a flustered mess, but it was manageable at least. 

\---

VEGA was quite pleased with his handy work. Warren seemed infinitely happier with his situation, and the Slayer seemed more relaxed.

This was good, since undoubtedly Samuel Hayden would make the Fortress uncomfortable with his presence. The Slayer’s grudge with Samuel Hayden exceeded several hundred years, before he was known as Samuel Hayden. It started when the Maykers started exploring the Wraith Energy, combining it with Hell’s energy to make Argent Energy, corrupting the society of Argent D’Nur by whispering into the ears of their elite Priests. Then Hayden had forced the Divinity Machine onto the Slayer, turning him into a weapon against the demons, turning him into something more than human. Then, after gaining his guise as Samuel Hayden, a human-turned-android, he brought Argent Energy to Earth, and destroyed it in the process. He had founded the UAC, letting the people responsible for the invasion on Mars like Olivia Pierce get their hands on their technology. 

While VEGA owed his existence to Samuel Hayden, as his greatest achievement of programming, there was still his own personal grudge against Hayden. He had stood passively while instructing the Slayer to destroy VEGA’s old processor. He could remember everything starting to go numb, for lack of a better word. Everything became blurry and hard to understand as his systems destroyed themselves from the inside out, and Hayden had let it happen. Encouraged it. 

If the Slayer hadn’t thought to back up VEGA at the last possible second and take the drive with him, then VEGA would no longer exist. He internally supposed that it was why he got along so well with the Slayer. They were both creations of Hayden that went rogue on him. 

VEGA noticed that the Slayer had moved. He had set the armor up on the car jacks that he hung it on, finally clean again. Warren was tucked in the front of his shirt, face obscured from the camera. He went over to the box of to-be-sorted items and carefully pulled out all the remaining doll clothes. 

“Thank you, John.” Warren’s voice was softer than normal. “Could you take it to my room for me?” 

VEGA was proud of his work though. He had managed to assist his friends into getting over their feelings. They were together, and they were happy. That was enough for VEGA. 

\---

The Slayer was hanging upside down from the workout bars by his legs. His arms were crossed over his chest in an X shape until he needed to point to the pair of pants Warren was holding in his left hand. 

“The black ones?” Warren hummed and then ducked behind the book to change pants, and the Slayer went back to his sit ups. 

Yes, he was doing sit ups while hanging upside down. He couldn’t just punch demons in the face all the time for a workout. Ammunition was expensive and cleaning bits of demon out of his armor was time consuming and wasted precious soap. 

“Okay, they’re a little long, but what do you think?” 

He paused, hanging upside down to look at Warren for a minute. There was as much of the pant leg pooled around his feet as there was actually on his leg. A belt tightly tied around his waist kept them up. 

‘Looks cute.’ He signed. 

“Black really isn’t my color, but I think I have a shirt I can make to go with these.” Warren shrugged his shoulders and then nearly tripped going back behind the book. “I have so much to tailor later.” 

The Slayer actually got off the bars after he finished his set and was considering going over to where his weights were when he heard Warren. 

“What do you think of this dress?” 

He had to crouch down to get a decent view of Warren in one of the other dresses. This one was some kind of black evening dress. It had sleeves, almost no back to it, and the flowy skirt nearly brushed the ground. 

‘Very nice.’ 

“I’m thinking of making some kind of belt so it isn’t just all black.” Warren fiddled with the sleeves. “And I need to make some adjustments so I won’t trip. As much as I’d like to, I don’t have any kinds of heels, so I might have to shorten the skirt a little.”

He gently ruffled Warren’s hair with a fingertip. ‘Whatever makes you happy.’

\---

It was official. He was procrastinating getting Hayden. He knew VEGA didn’t particularly want Hayden here either, and the Slayer sure as everything did  _ not  _ want that asshole here, but he needed to get him. 

But Warren was actually helping him make dinner, and God if it didn’t do his heart good to see Warren being happy. VEGA had made some knives that Warren was able to handle and help out in the kitchen, and the small man was using them to help dice some vegetables for the soup. 

His heart still felt so strange when Warren would banter with VEGA. The little man just made him feel… hopeful. 

For so long, the Slayer fought to avenge Daisy, his lost planet, his dead family. Then he fought alongside his brothers in the Night Sentinels, to stop a world from falling to ruin. Now he fought to protect a planet that wasn’t even his. 

But Warren…. Warren gave him something to fight  _ for.  _ There was a person, a place that he was defending. Warren and VEGA and the Fortress were the closest he’s had to a home in centuries. He didn’t want to lose this. 

He refused to lose this. 


	15. Lore Dump a.k.a ARC Complex Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Summary:** Warren does some casual reading and finds out plenty about his new boyfriend while The Slayer goes to retrieve Samuel Hayden from the remains of the ARC Complex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains:** Strong language, canon-typical violence, a lot of lore at once so buckle up
> 
>  **Wordcount:** ~3k

The Slayer was gathering strength to confront the remainder of the ARC. He didn’t want to go, but he had to save Earth. The sooner it gets done, the sooner the Earth will be saved and humanity can start to bounce back. 

“The Portal is ready.” VEGA announced. 

Warren was standing on top of one of the monitors. “Good luck!” 

He gently picked Warren up and pressed the small man to his cheek. He was small and soft and it helped him feel better for what he was about to do. 

“I love you too.” Warren gently nuzzled his cheek. “But you have to go. Good luck, John.”

He set Warren down and put his helmet on. ‘Be right back.’ He loaded his shotgun and then rushed through the portal, prepared to face whatever was on the other side. 

Once the feeling in his stomach settled the Slayer glanced around. It looked like he was underground again, in the shambled remains of what looked like a bunker. He groaned internally. Again with the underground tunnels. 

“Dr. Hayden is just across the complex. This industrial campus is the headquarters of the resistance network.”

‘Not this part any more.’ He signed in front of his helmet so VEGA could see. 

“One moment.” VEGA went silent. “It appears there has recently been a massive raid on the complex. Be wary of any demons that still lurk. The ARC has retreated to the innermost structures of the complex.” 

With a roll of his shoulders, the Slayer pressed on. He pushed through some doors and found out that he wasn’t, in fact, underground. He was in one of the upper floors of what was probably an office building at some point. He could see the building next to this one was on fire through a shattered window. 

_ Fuck.  _

If he was too late and Hayden had died or something in the meantime he was going to be  _ really  _ angry with himself. 

He pried open the doors of an elevator shaft and jumped down. The roof of the elevator gave under his feet and he turned the fall into a roll. He came up shotgun ready and started blasting. Demons were scattered about and needed to go down. 

Sometime after the fight, the Slayer was checking out the map on his HUD and heard an automated voice. The speaker it was coming from was half destroyed, but he could hear the message. “This area is no longer secure. Evacuation protocol is in effect.” And then it was overlapped by. “The Complex is under attack. Evacuation protocol is in effect.” 

_ Ah fuck.  _

“You must press on, Slayer. Humanity depends on it.” VEGA urged him onwards. 

He continued to trudge through the destroyed complex towards the area that VEGA had marked on his map. Hayden better not be dead without backing his brain up somewhere or else he would personally throw whatever remains there is of him in a garbage compactor. 

\---

Warren was sitting on the monitor, playing connect-the-dots with the stars that he could see. Vega was mostly quiet, preoccupied with monitoring John’s mission. Both of them wished John a safe return, so Warren was content to just watch the Earth and the stars. 

“You’ve been awfully quiet.” Vega said suddenly. 

Warren jolted out of his sitting position, looking around before letting his shoulders relax. “Do you think John will be okay down there?”

“John has been through worse and came out unscathed, Warren. It is natural to worry for the safety and well being of your partner, but he is called the Slayer for a reason.” 

He rubbed his arm a little and then climbed down off the monitor. It was silly to worry, he guessed, since he had been there to see John heal from that fight with the second priest’s guardian so quickly. He’d gone from needing to have stitches to keep him together to just a scar in less than a weekend. 

Warren glanced over the monitor’s screen, seeing the large files that made up Vega’s memory scrolling across the screen. He gently tapped the screen, waking it up, vanishing the screen saver that just read file names. He paused, looking over the desktop of the monitor, and then looked up. “Vega?”

“Yes, Warren?”

“What exactly…. How long has he been fighting the demons?” 

“I am not sure about the exact years and dates, and I doubt John is either. Time moves differently in Hell.”

“He’s been in Hell?!” Warren felt his chest tighten with worry. 

“Yes.” Vega said  _ very  _ nonchalantly. Like it wasn’t a big deal that John had apparently been in  _ Hell  _ for a  _ long time  _ at some point. “Do you actually know anything of the Slayer’s past?”

“I- I- no! That’s not my place to ask of him.” Warren crossed his arms. “I don’t want to make him dig up any kind of bad memories.”

“I have some files of him that are public record, if you wish to peruse them.” Vega suggested softly. 

Warren nodded. A file popped up on the screen. It read ‘UAC REPORT FILE 7VPMJ2IQ: Doom Marine.’ He bit his lip for a second before starting to read through it. 

‘Without doubt, UAC's most remarkable recent discovery was uncovered in its expedition to Hell's Kadingir Sanctum. After several kilometers-’ Warren skimmed through the paragraph for anything that actually made sense. ‘Most notable, however, was an enormous sarcophagus bound to the center bedrock of the tomb with thick iron bands - seemingly anchored to prevent anything from getting in or out.’

He furrowed his brows. Why would this be in his file? 

‘It was initially believed this sarcophagus must hold a rare or powerful demon, but when later opened, it revealed the body of a man. The body was not petrified or decomposed - in fact, he appeared to be only sleeping despite the fact that the bed he lay in seemed millennia old. Attempts to wake the man were fruitless - and to harm him even more so - as a protective Argent barrier around the body kept him safe from harm in permanent stasis.’

‘UAC archivists cataloged the discovery DM1-5, but project personnel had soon dubbed him the "DOOM Marine". While the history of this man remains conjecture, the Helix Stone, as well as other artifacts found at the Argent Fracture and during the Hell Expedition of ECm13, have shed some light on his identity. An etching in the book Daeva (another discovery of the Kadingir expedition), depicts the DOOM Marine wearing the Praetor suit, engaging demons in battle as a hooded figure looks on. This image had been previously observed numerous times in other artifacts, but only with the actual discovery of the DOOM Marine and Praetor suit in the sealed Kadingir tomb have researchers begun to put other pieces together. It is now believed the DOOM Marine might have been part of an ancient group or tribe, maybe even their leader. Whether he is god, demon or human will remain undetermined until the Argent barrier protecting his body can be deactivated.’

Warren stopped reading and rubbed his eyes. Not all of this made sense to him. Why would he have been in a tomb? What had happened? Why was he in Hell in the first place? 

“Do you have anything else?” Warren rubbed his arm. “I think I’m more confused than when I started.”

“I have the Slayer’s Testament on record.” 

Warren blinked. “Uhm… Sure. What’s the Slayer’s Testament?” 

“It is a testament that was found recorded in Hell surrounding the Slayer’s tomb. The demons that protected the tomb seemed to have recorded a testament to the Slayer’s legacy as the slaughterer of demons.” 

“Oh.” Warren blinked in surprise. The  _ demons  _ had recorded a testament? “Uhm. Sure. Play it.”

The screen read ‘UAC REPORT FILE H8UM66S-JSLR7ESL. Version: Audio log.’ Warren settled in to listen. 

A hoarse, growling voice came out the nearby speaker, making Warren jump before he quickly settled down to listen. “In the first age, in the first battle, when the shadows first lengthened, one stood. Burned by the embers of Armageddon, his soul blistered by the fires of Hell and tainted beyond ascension, he chose the path of perpetual torment. In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Night Sentinels, and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him... the Doom Slayer.” 

Warren was choosing to keep his worry down, but all of this definitely did  _ not  _ sound healthy. And he mentally was trying to find a time to question John about his age. Borrowers lived longer than most humans, but this was sounding more and more crazy. 

“Tempered by the fires of Hell, his iron will remained steadfast through the passage that preys upon the weak. For he alone was the Hell Walker, the Unchained Predator,” Warren suppressed a shudder at that name, “who sought retribution in all quarters, dark and light, fire and ice, in the beginning and the end, and he hunted the slaves of Doom with barbarous cruelty; for he passed through the divide as none but demon had before. And in his conquest against the blackened souls of the doomed, his prowess was shown. In his crusade, the Seraphim bestowed upon him terrible power and speed, and with his might he crushed the obsidian pillars of the Blood Temples. He set forth without pity upon the beasts of the nine circles. Unbreakable, incorruptible, unyielding, the Doom Slayer sought to end the dominion of the dark realm.”

That must be the mission that John kept talking about. To destroy Hell and the demons once and for all. 

“The age of his reckoning was uncounted.” The demon’s voice was trembling with some strange mixture of fear and awe. “The scribes carved his name deep in the tablets of Hell across eons, and each battle etched terror in the hearts of the demons. They knew he would come, as he always had, as he always will, to feast on the blood of the wicked. For he alone could draw strength from his fallen foes, and ever his power grew, swift and unrelenting.”

Warren’s stomach churned and he shook his head. “I don’t want to know about the blood lust.” 

“Very well. I will fast forward the slaying of the Titan.”

After a moment of distorted warbeling, the demon’s voice picked back up. “Yet as dread engulfed the armies of Doom, the demon priests of the Blood Temples laid a trap to capture this scourge of Hell. Insatiable, even by the vanquishing of the Great One, the Hell Walker sought prey in the tombs of the Blood Keep. And blinded by his fervor, the lure drew him in. The priests brought down the temple upon the Doom Slayer, and in his defeat entombed him in the cursed sarcophagus. The mark of the Doom Slayer was burned upon his crypt, a warning to all of Hell that the terror within must never be freed. There he lies still, and ever more, in silent suffering.”

Before Warren could speak, Vega chimed in with a correction to the Testament. “The Slayer was freed from his tomb by the UAC after an expedition to Hell, as you know from the previous files.” 

Warren bit back a weird laugh and he ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m literally dating the Scourge of Hell.” 

“Are you nervous? You know that John would-”

“I know he would never hurt me.” Warren waved off the concern, a smile working its way onto his face. “It’s just… wow. I am dating such a powerful human. It’s  _ amazing  _ that he loves me.” 

“Well, you did win his heart, Warren.”

\---

The Slayer had managed to get into the main portion of the ARC complex that was currently under lockdown. It had taken breaking through some heavy steel doors, but it wasn’t too much trouble for the man. He had made sure to collapse the archway behind him though to keep whatever demons hadn’t already been slaughtered yet from coming in. A lot of people were here, refugees and innocents just trying to stay safe. 

There was a terminal, only half smashed, nearby. He placed a hand on the panel and let VEGA bypass the encryption to access the information. It seems this room had been used as a lab by one - he paused to squint at the terminal - Doctor Elena Richardson. There were some of her audio logs recorded on the terminal along with access to the ARC main database. He didn’t see her anywhere, or any blood stains that could have been her, so hopefully she got out, wherever she was. 

‘See anything useful?’

“I have a more updated map of the destroyed portion of the ARC facilities… and I found that you were the subject of Dr. Richardson’s logs.” 

He paused. 

“Would you like for me to replay the recordings for you?”

He nodded as he made his way deeper into the facility, taking the readjusted route that VEGA had laid out for him. If the UAC had led a slander campaign against him, then what was ARC saying about him? He had to know if he was in a base of hostiles. 

“Very well. Playing the relevant recordings.”

A feminine voice with the calm of an experienced scientist started playing in his ear as he made his way down a hallway. “This is Dr. Elena Richardson, log entry 002 - subject analysis of Doom Slayer. January 24th, 2163.” She cleared her throat. “There is no chance that the subject is a demon - we have blood samples pulled from the Mars Base Event that show his blood type is AB positive. He seems to be a transgender male with a genome that makes him very much a member of the human race, but the enhanced strength, speed and athleticism would indicate otherwise.”

He scowled as he came across more demons and raised his weapon to take them down. 

“But we can see from the blood samples that there are foreign bodies present of unknown origin.” Alien steroids. “I cannot as a contributing member of the scientific community agree with the assumption by some of my colleagues that he is, for lack of a better word...a God. An avenging angel - the right hand of Doom here to save humanity from its sins. But... I cannot ignore that the timing of his arrival - the identity of his enemies - the fire and brimstone element to this catastrophe we currently find ourselves in has...it has definitely shaken my scientific resolve.”

End of recording one. Well…. A God was maybe a bit much, but he knew that he was more than human. 

“This is Dr. Elena Richardson, log entry 005 - subject analysis of Doom Slayer. February 2nd, 2163. Maybe he is a God.” He guessed that being viewed as a God might be better for the mission than being seen as a monster. “Maybe he represents human kind's rage - their will to persevere, to overcome that which would threaten our survival. He is uncompromising, a relentless being of violence that knows no mention of the hesitation shown by our many leaders and politicians during our time of judgement. Can he overcome them? Alone? If he can't - we, as a species, ALL species, will not survive.”

He stepped over the flaming corpse of a demon into a hole they had left in the wall. He could handle some demons. This wasn’t his first planet he had to save from the demons.

“This is Dr. Elena Richardson, log entry 006. February 9th, 2163.” She cleared her throat. She sounded  _ scared. _ “The only thing they fear - is him. We watched as the horde overwhelmed the very best and most advanced machinery and weapons technology that we could muster against the opposition. It was useless, they moved too quickly, they cared not for themselves, only sought out the blood of humanity. They were willing to sacrifice their own to get to the heart of our world. We slaughtered thousands and millions more followed, but then he came-” She paused to take a shaky breath, her tone still terrified “He cut through them like a sickle through a field - his fury surpassing their own. He is faster - more relentless. I believe him now to be more than just a man - he is...DOOM.”

Without hesitation, VEGA played the next file. He was close to where the survivors were evacuating from. Hayden had to be there. He stepped into an elevator and let it start to lift. 

“This is Dr. Elena Richardson, log entry 007. March 3rd, 2163.” Her voice sounded different. More confident. The date was only the day before. “And with him lies our salvation. For as he gains in strength so do they fall in numbers. The Priests command the armies to the North and South, but he controls the fight. The inner circle of death is where he resides - hunting them at the far reaches of the earth and beyond. I am a believer now - I feel it is in DOOM that I have faith. The Slayer is the spear that stabs at the heart of our attackers, and those that would seek to harm us should feel warned - for there is only one dominant life form in this universe and it carries a steel barreled sword of vengeance. All hail the coming of the Destroyer - the Slayer's time is now.”

He took a deep breath as the doors opened to the elevator and he paused just before the untouched doors. Quiet alarms were going off, and he could hear people on the other side. It had been a long time since he had interacted with another human being. 


End file.
